Time For Change
by FuzzyHyperLlama
Summary: ON HIATUS! WARNING CONTAINS SLASH! MxM! With the war over Harry just wants a normal, peaceful life but with horrific secrets tearing him apart, will that even be possible? Draco/Harry. Creature!Harry, Powerful!Harry, Slytherin!Harry, Self abused!Harry.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I decided to rewrite this story because I was not satisfied with what I had written. I have changed quite a lot for many reasons. I have now decided to set it after the war and most of the characters I had used in the old version died during the war. XD**

**I hope I haven't ruined it by doing this but the fic was just begging me to rewrite it .**

Chapter one.

It was raining, had been for the last four days, thick grey clouds filled the sky; casting shadows over the grounds. Harry sat on a window seat listening to the rain as it fell, He loved the rain it was beautiful, calming, and purifying.

The rain washed away everything and left room for new things to grow. But at the same time the rain was dark, sad, and depressing. It cast the world in shadow while the sky wept and confined everyone to the indoors. He loved the rain, but at the same time he loathed it.

He hadn't realized he had become so absorbed with the rain until a hand gently shook his shoulder "Harry, are you alright?" He looked around to see Hermione smiling warily; Harry sighed and smiled back best He could. "I'm fine" her smile Faltered for a second and then she hugged him suddenly but before He could react she pulled away with a slight blush upon her cheeks.

"Ron wants to play exploding snap with you" He looked over to the group of cheering boys and mumbled "I'll pass" then he jumped down from his perch on the windowsill. "I think I'm gunna go for a walk." He dusted himself down and then grabbed his father's invisibility cloak from his open trunk at the end of his bed.

Harry had been going out after curfew rather a lot lately, the night seems to call out to him. It whispered sweet nothings, promises of dreamless nights. He walks through the empty halls of Hogwarts listening to the songs of the night.

Hermione looked up at him, nodding. "Just be careful," she said quietly and Harry gave her a small smile. She had never once tried to persuade him not to go wandering around after curfew; she understood his need to sometimes get away from it all so never tried to stop him. She always said the same thing though when he did go; a quiet request for him to be careful.

Harry walked out of the archway entrance of the common room, but before closing the portrait; he shouted back "don't wait up!"

The only noise in the hallway was the low hum of voices and the rain as it hit the windows. Finally alone, Harry wrapped the cloak around himself and began to sing quietly, the night's voices joined in and Harry never felt more at peace.

The common room was quiet as most of the Slytherins that had stayed for their eighth year had gone to sleep ages ago and Draco was bored. Pansy and Blaise were sitting by the fire on the couch currently attempting to suck each other's face off; Draco cringed as pansy let out a quiet moan.

"I'm going out!" He stated, repulsed. He was not going to sit here and watch his two best friends practically have sex. Nobody looked up as he threw on his winter cloak and stalked out of the common room, slamming the portrait shut behind him for good measure but only succeeding in receiving an agitated hiss from the snake in the frame.

Draco walked aimlessly down the corridors, avoiding filch whenever the need came across, until movement caught his eye outside the window. He pressed his face to the cool glass and looked out onto the lake, sure enough there was a lone figure standing on the banks of the lake.

He scowled at his reflection in the glass '_God I was bored!' _He thought to himself and then sighed. He ran his hand through his loose hair and started making his way down to the lake to find out what idiot would stand outside in a storm by themselves.

The wind lashed at Harry's soaked clothes but he ignored it, his thoughts were wandering to the memories he had locked up, he shivered as memory after horrific memory passed his mind's eye. It was times like these that he needed a distraction, something to keep him from torturing himself.

Harry thought himself responsible. He was overflowing with the guilt of letting his friends die, it was consuming him. He thought himself responsible for the war. He felt that if he hadn't been born there would have been no war. His friends told him different but there was a voice in his head that said he was to blame for the war and the deaths that followed. It whispered from the back of his mind, telling him he would be better off dead.

Harry had tried multiple times to kill himself but at the last second he would always back out, his Gryffindor courage leaving him or maybe it was his Slytherin preservation instinct.

He felt another presence approaching him, the elder wand sprung out of his magically altered arm holster, he had kept it after the war; its power called to him and had no desire to part with it, he spun on his heel, aiming it at the possible threat, a curse ready on his lips. He was surprised when a familiar voice drawled mockingly. "Put it away potter before you hurt yourself." Harry glared at the smirking blonde but put his wand back in the holster with a flick of his fingers.

"What're you doing out here Malfoy?" Draco scoffed and folded his arms across his chest. Harry had, somewhere along the line, started to call Draco by his given name in his head and it was beginning to annoy him. "I could ask the same to you." The two boys glared at each other for a while before Harry gave in, realizing they might be there all night if it carried on like this.

"I was thinking" Harry said with a sigh "did it hurt?" Draco taunted, folding his arms tighter around himself when a cold breeze danced between them. Harry turned around to face him fully not rising to the bait "Go back inside Malfoy, before you catch a cold."

Draco glared at him "and what about you?" Harry barked out a loud laugh. "Oh Malfoy, I didn't think you cared." Harry mocked with an amused smile on his face. Draco's face went pink and Harry had to hold back another laugh "I don't care, potter!" Draco yelled and Harry chuckled quietly. It was funny; teasing Malfoy always seemed to cheer Harry up.

"Whatever Malfoy, let's go inside before we both catch colds." Draco's mouth was set in a thin line and Harry couldn't help but smile when he took in Draco's appearance; he looked like a drowned rat, his hair was pasted to his forehead and his robes clung to him heavily. He was shivering; Harry could see that from where he was standing.

"What are you smiling at, potter?" Harry shook his head, afraid to talk in case he burst out laughing; he was having trouble holding it in as it was. Harry walked past Draco who turned as Harry walked away.

"Answer me, potter!" Harry took a deep breath and turned to say something smart and sarcastic but a lone howl rose from the forbidden forest and they both went quiet as the lonesome cries echoed over the lands. Harry looked up to the sky and a full moon grinned back down at him.

A shiver ran up Harry's spine when the howls continued. "What is that?" Malfoy asked as he backed away from the forest slightly, standing next to Harry; their shoulders touching slightly.

"A wolf" Harry murmured as he listened to the lonely sounds almost hypnotically. Malfoy turned to him slightly, a panicked look in his eyes "wolf?"

He ran his hand through his wet hair making it stick up at all angles "wasn't that scruffy defence professor a werewolf?" Harry had no idea what that had to do with their current topic of conversation but he didn't want to talk about Remus with Malfoy, he was surprised that their little chat had not escalated into a duelling session like it normally would.

They had both matured a lot after the war; only a small handful of Slytherins had come back to redo the year and harry was amazed that Draco had been one of them.

"Shut up, Malfoy" Harry murmured half-heartedly as the howls died down and the forest was quiet once again. He turned around and started the climb to the school entrance with his cloak wrapped tightly around him; Malfoy shouted some incoherent words behind him which were lost in the growing wind but he was pretty sure they were curse words.

They stopped in the entryway and cast quick drying spells on themselves. Then Harry heard faint footsteps echoing down the hall as someone drew closer to them. They both froze, Harry looked to Malfoy who was staring down the hall "filch!" He whispered when he faced Harry and scowled "What are you doing, potter? Filch is coming we need to hide!"

Harry glared at him as he dug through his bag, he frowned when he couldn't find what he was looking for, he was sure he had put it in there. He grinned triumphantly at Malfoy when he pulled his invisibility cloak from his bag.

"What's that raggedy old thing?" Malfoy asked hysterically, shaking it out Harry pulled him beside a suit of armour. "This raggedy old thing is our only hope, it's an invisibility cloak. Now be quiet."

Harry murmured as he draped the cloak over both of them but then pulled Draco closer to him when the cloak didn't cover them both, which he regretted instantly; their bodies were resting against each other and it was doing something funny to Harry's stomach.

They were silent as filch walked past mumbling something about McGonagall that had them both cringing, their bodies pressed together so hard that not even a sheet of parchment could be forced between them. Harry's hands were resting on Draco's waist and his were on the wall on either side of Harry's head.

Draco huffed out the breath he wasn't aware he was holding in and rested his chin on Harry's shoulder, Harry tensed up at the contact and Draco smirked to himself. _'This could be fun.'_

"Potter..." Draco breathed into Harry's ear and he felt his body shiver beneath his "let me go?" Harry pulled his hands away like he had just been burnt and blushed furiously.

"S-sorry" he stuttered as Draco put some much needed space between them both, He dusted off invisible dirt as Harry stuffed his cloak back into his bag and Draco wondered for a moment as to where he had gotten it; invisibility cloaks were rare and expensive and he doubted Potter could afford one. "Well then, good night Malfoy" he said sullenly and slid his hands into his pockets. Draco lifted his head in the usual arrogant Slytherin posture and sniffed "good night, potter."

He said and walked away toward the dungeon, Draco turned back once but potter was already gone. It was close to two in the morning when he got back to the Slytherin common room. He threw off his cloak sighing as exhaustion finally caught up with him, he skipped his shower and changed into some black cotton pyjama bottoms then fell into his bed, asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The next morning in the great hall Draco's gaze kept drifting to the golden boy who pushed his food around his plate with his fork absently, he hadn't actually eaten anything as of yet. Every so often he would say something when Weaselbee or Granger asked him a question but other than that he kept to himself.

A hand rested on Draco's then and he refrained from pulling away instead he turned to frown at Pansy; she pouted "are you feeling alright, Dracy-poos?" Draco scowled at her choice of nickname but nodded "I'm fine, why do you ask?"

He took a sip of his coffee as she studied him "you haven't eaten anything, love and you keep staring off into space" he glared at her then sighed irritably "I'm just not hungry" she drew in a breath slowly, readying herself for an argument, but changed her mind after catching the _'drop it or suffer' _ look on Draco's face. Instead she decided to turn back to her breakfast and delicately nibbled on a slice of bacon.

At that moment Draco felt eyes on him, he searched the great hall and his eyes collided with a pair of green ones. For a moment Harry's eyes were filled with nothing but curiosity and something Draco couldn't identify, but then his eyes became hard and unreadable. The shock must have been evident on his face because Harry smirked before turning to his Weasel friend. Draco scowled at the side of his head then excused himself from the table, pansy looked at him worriedly but he ignored her as he stalked to the dungeons for his first lesson; potions with the buffoon Slughorn.

Slughorn was his usual scatter-brained self and Draco wondered why an idiot like him could be allowed to teach. "Ok listen up people."

Slughorn held his hands in the air expectantly with an eager smile on his face. "Today we will be having a competition of sorts, I will give each pair a potion to brew and the fastest to complete theirs will win two vials of dreamless sleep." Draco sighed; they were obviously running low on potions in the infirmary.

"So get into your pairs and I'll come and tell you your potion" Slughorn chuckled amusedly when everybody rushed to get to a good partner. Ron had somehow managed to get into potions this year and he jumped into the seat next to Harry "does everyone have a partner? Good?" Slughorn looked at a slip of parchment on his desk then turned back to the class.

"Mister Malfoy and Mister Zabini you will be concocting the wound-cleaning potion" _'yep the infirmary ran out of supplies' _Draco thought as he got up to get the ingredients from the store cupboard "Mister Potter and Mister Weasley, the pepper up potion I think, Miss Granger and Miss Brown the calming draught, Mister Longbottom and Miss Bulstrode you will be brewing an anti-paralysis potion and Miss Lovegood and Mister Finnegan will be making a boil-cure potion, get your ingredients and then get brewing." Slughorn clapped his hands together joyfully and sat behind his desk "and don't forget whoever wins gets two vials of dreamless sleep."

One person from each pair got up to collect their ingredients the other set up the cauldron. Ron was the one to get their ingredients and shoved brutally past Draco who was making his way back to his desk causing him drop his jar of Murtlap essence. "Hey, watch it Weasley" he snarled at the red-heads retreating back.

"Hey did you see that Harry?" Ron asked as he dumped the ingredients on the table and then took his seat. Harry had seen it and he thought it was a bit over the top, Draco had not been his usual spiteful self since he came back to Hogwarts, not once had he said a nasty comment about any of the golden trio, so Harry just stayed quiet and got the fire going. He wanted to win those dreamless sleep potions; nightmares from the war and the Dursley's had been visiting him during the night, stopping him from getting the sleep he needed.

Harry worked furiously but carefully, wanting to get everything absolutely perfect. Ron had fallen asleep with his head resting in his folded arms ages ago and it gave Harry a moment to concentrate. He was waiting for the right time to put his last ingredient in when Slughorn announced that Draco and Blaise had finished their potion. He ran his hand through his dishevelled hair and dumped his piece of mandrake root into the potion and watched as it turned a pinkish-red colour. Harry lifted his hand and coughed to clear his throat "I think we're finished as well, professor."

"Ah fantastic Mister Potter but I think you get all the credit as it seems you're partner has fallen asleep" They both looked at Ron who let out a loud snore. Slughorn chuckled "looks like he doesn't need any dreamless sleep potion hmm?"

Slughorn then tested Harry's potion "a perfect batch Mister Potter, well done." He patted Harry on the back before he continued wandering around the classroom checking on the other pairs "only ten minutes left now" he stated as he came up behind Neville and looked dubiously at his potion which was bubbling and spitting. "Perhaps you should start again Mister Longbottom?"

Neville groaned but let Slughorn vanish his ruined potion; Millicent hissed something in his ear which made him grimace and Harry felt a pang of sympathy for him.

"Now before I give Mister Malfoy and Mister Zabini their dreamless sleep can anybody tell some the class the history of this particular potion?" he looked around the classroom expectantly then smiled widely when Hermione's was the only raised hand.

After potions Harry ran off to the library to study the dreamless sleep potion, he wanted to find out how difficult it was and if he could brew it on his own. He had told Ron and Hermione before he had took off, Ron was dumbstruck asking _'why the bloody hell, harry?' _Hermione on the other hand was ecstatic, offering help whenever needed. Harry had declined her help; they didn't need to know Harry's problems, at least that's what Harry thought.

The library was relatively empty as it was most likely they were all down in the great hall eating their lunch. Harry searched around randomly for a book that might help him. He had no idea where to start; this was Hermione's speciality after all. He grabbed a book that looked promising the title read; _the second encyclopedia of potions._

Harry sat at a table in the far corner of the library that was more or less hidden behind a large bookshelf and dug through his bag for a self-inking quill and a piece of parchment. Then he began searching through the book occasionally scribbling down an odd potion name every now and then, when he found the dreamless sleep potion he copied down every bit of information and groaned when he found a part stating that too much of the potion in too short of a time could cause serious damage, he sighed and ran his hand through his hair again.

He read through another couple of books until his stomach reminded him that he had skipped lunch and dinner, Harry felt slightly guilty that he had missed the rest of his classes, he sighed as he stuffed his quill and parchment back into his bag and tried to think of some excuse to give McGonagall and Hermione.

The sky was black and the moon glowed brightly, Harry paused to stare at the twinkling stars. He always did have a secret fancy for astronomy; he loved to gaze at the stars on sleepless nights and wonder how they could be so bright yet so far away. He shook his head to clear the dreamy thoughts away and slung his bag over his shoulder.

When he got to the portrait leading to the kitchens he bent down and tickled the pear, a high-pitched giggling filled the corridor for a moment and when the frame swung open it died down only to be replaced by a swarm of elves wanting to shake his hand, touch his scar or congratulate and thank him for destroying the dark lord. After a while they started to settle down and Harry asked for something small to eat, they all squealed and scrambled away murmuring to each other _'it must be perfects for masters harry potter!'_

Harry chuckled as he sat at the small dining table in the middle of the kitchen; he let his thoughts drift as he watched the elves run about the kitchen. He was so lost in his thoughts that he jumped when a plate of food was placed on the table on front of him. He smiled his thanks to the little elf and she skipped away happily, bragging to the other elves.

The small snack consisted of: a smoked ham, lettuce and mayonnaise sandwich cut in half, half a green apple and a small slice of chocolate cake. Harry's mouth was salivating as he picked up one half of the sandwich and took a big bite from it, chewing thoughtfully, he took a sip from the goblet of pumpkin juice that was placed on the table by his hand by a small elf with a huge nose and watched the elves run about preparing food for tomorrows breakfast and cleaning as he finished the rest of his sandwich.

As he was finishing the last of the chocolate cake he got the sudden urge to go for another walk outside by the lake. So he thanked the elves again and left, tugging on the invisibility cloak when he was alone. He carried it with him everywhere now, a habit from the war that he hadn't been able to drop, he also carried the marauders map with him _'better safe than sorry' _Remus would always say.

Harry's throat tightened at the thought of the werewolf and he locked those memories away in their box before he had another episode. Ron and Hermione were frightened of his episodes mainly because sometimes they made him close up and he wouldn't eat or talk for days on end and other times he would go off into a blind rage until he was too exhausted to move. Hermione was scared that they were losing him, that one day he would just stop living. Harry was scared too.

Harry walked slowly basking in the silence of the empty hallways, he had the strange urge to start screaming as loud as he could but thought better of it; he didn't want to get caught out after curfew.

He stood on the stone steps of the entrance to Hogwarts for a moment and looked up at the sky. It had stopped raining some time during the day and the sky was clear and sparkling with loads of shining stars. Harry smiled up at the twinkling things, and then he skipped down the slightly damp steps and hummed aimlessly as he walked down the slippery path.

When Harry got to the lake he was surprised to see that someone had already beat him there. The lone figure skipped stones over the waters' surface, quite skilfully he might add. Harry was even more surprised to see who the lone figure was, Draco, there was no mistaking that blonde hair which seemed to glow in the moonlight "Malfoy?"

Draco spun around so fast that his foot slipped in the wet mud and would have fallen in the water, if Harry's seeker reflexes hadn't kicked in; he grabbed Draco's wrists and steadied him. "Sorry Malfoy didn't mean to scare you" Malfoy scoffed and twisted his wrists out of Harry's grasp "I wasn't scared potter."

Harry crossed his arms over his chest and shivered slightly when a cold breeze drifted past them, ruffling their clothes, it may have stopped raining but there was still the biting wind that would normally accompany a storm. Malfoy swatted a couple of stray hairs out of his eyes "shut it potter." Harry made a sound in the back of his throat, and then movement from the forbidden forest caught his eye.

"We should go inside!" Harry said urgently, almost yelling, as panic started to build inside him, whatever it was he had seen was getting closer and it was emitting a dark aura similar to that of Voldemorts death eaters, an extra talent he had picked up after the war, he could see the aura's of living things. It had worried him at first but after a few weeks he had gotten used to it and found it quite useful, although trying to work out what each colour meant was quite stressful. "Don't tell me what to do potter!" Harry grabbed Draco's elbow and dragged him up the bank as something's shadow drew closer to them. "No really, we need to go!"

"What the hell is wrong with you potter?" Draco wrenched his arm from Harry's grip, scowling at him. "I think the war did something to your brain."

The shadow was almost upon them and Harry cursed when he saw the cause of the menacing shadow, a werewolf. Harry then looked up at the sky where he knew the full moon would be grinning down at him, he growled. "Answer me, potter!"

Malfoy was oblivious to the approaching danger "Malfoy, there is no time for this. We need to get out of he-" Harry was interrupted by a low menacing growl behind him, Draco gasped staggering back slightly. "Don't move, Malfoy."

Draco looked at Harry quickly, a look that clearly said _'are you mad'_ in his eyes, before turning tail and running up the hill, Harry cursed when the werewolf gave chase, barking gleefully. He loped slowly after Malfoy choosing to play with his chosen prey before killing him.

Time seemed to slow as Draco tripped on his robe, his arms flailing in the air as he fell heavily to the ground. The werewolf gave one last bark before he leapt at him. Harry didn't know what to do until he leapt and changed into his Animagi mid-leap. He landed square on the werewolf's back.

Harry didn't want to hurt the werewolf, knowing that somewhere in there was a human being, granted that that person might be corrupt, but there was a chance that that was wrong but he had no choice. Harry clamped his jaws around the werewolf's shoulder and shuddered when the creature's blood flooded into his mouth; he closed his throat to prevent from swallowing any of the liquid and shook his head, easily tearing the flesh with his sharp canines.

The werewolf's head snapped back and his jaw was seconds away from clamping around one of Harry's forelegs, Harry jumped off of the werewolf's back landing soundlessly on his paws a few feet away from the werewolf, directly in front of Draco.

Harry crouched in front of him defensively, growling menacingly when the werewolf tried to approach, it was a sound that startled Harry slightly but he didn't falter instead he snapped his jaws and snarled at the approaching werewolf.

Harry leapt at the werewolf again; when it was evident he wouldn't back down, and they collided mid leap. Harry winced when sharp canines ripped into his side but he didn't have time to think about the consequence as they rolled in a flurry of fur and fang and all Draco could do was watch and wait to see who would be victorious.

Draco had come back to the lake with hopes of meeting harry again, not actually expecting to, and he was pleasantly surprised when he heard Harry's voice. But now he wished he had stayed in the common room, watching Blaise argue with some second year about what their Patronus's would be.

Draco stood frozen as the werewolf and Harry tumbled together; teeth flashing. They growled and snarled; red blood stained the werewolf's grey coloured fur and Draco was quite surprised that Harry had not sustained any serious injuries, or none that he could see. They parted suddenly, potter snarled at the werewolf. His tail flicked and the werewolf growled back.

Draco watched intently as Harry circled the werewolf his whiskers twitching, his muscles flexed under his dark fur, he was limping slightly; his left side bleeding profusely. Harry snarled at the werewolf who growled back but when Harry took a step forwards the werewolf seemed to falter, he tucked his tail between his legs and whined before running off into the forbidden forest at full speed.

It was suddenly too quiet, the only sounds; the heavy breathing from panther Harry. Draco turned his attention to the giant cat and silver eyes met emerald green cat eyes. "You're an Animagus!?"

Panther Harry sat in front of Draco and opened his mouth in what resembled a smile, his tongue hung from the side of his open mouth "How long?" Draco asked not really knowing why he wanted to know. Panther Harry tilted his head and Draco sighed in frustration. "Come on potter don't be a prat, change back or whatever!"

Draco rubbed his temples and Panther Harry snorted in amusement, and then the air around Harry seemed to bend and Draco couldn't seem to focus on him, he felt the magic radiating off of Harry and then it was gone and Harry was sitting in front of Draco cross-legged with a stupid grin on his face, which was smudged with blood, but he was holding his side, blood dripping from the gaps between his fingers. "So?" Draco asked with a scowl on his face.

"So what?" Harry asked still grinning. Draco growled irritably "how long have you been an Animagus!?" Harry looked down at the hand in his lap, smile suddenly gone "Oh" he said dumbly "Um, well..." he trailed off, his eyebrows knitted together as he frowned.

Draco didn't think he was gunna get answer and was gunna push Harry into telling him, there was no way he's allowed to be an Animagus and Draco, a Malfoy, is not. But then Harry groaned, both hands coming up to cradle his injured side.

"Potter what's wrong?" Draco asked faltering for a second and then rushing to grab Harry frantically as he fell awkwardly. He grunted and grabbed Draco's arm weakly, he rested his chin on Draco's shoulder and mumbled almost inaudibly "help..." then he went limp in Draco's arms.

"Potter wake up!"

Nothing.

"Potter?"

Still nothing.

"Harry!?" Draco shouted almost hysterical. He felt Harry twitch then an airy laugh escaped his lips. "Are we on first name terms now?" Draco bopped him round the back of the head, sighing but he couldn't help the smile that played at his lips. "Yes harry, first name terms" Draco frowned when Harry groaned quietly.

"What do I need to do?" Harry laughed again then winced when his side was jostled "I thought you were supposed to be smart, Draco?" a shiver ran down Draco's spine when his name was murmured from the lips he had always fantasized about.

"Shut it, harry" Draco said half-heartedly as he dragged Harry onto his feet. His arm grabbing Draco's shoulders to steady himself and as soon as Harry's hand touched Draco a strange, but pleasant, heat spread throughout Draco's body. Draco wound his arm round his waist, mindful not to touch Harry's bloody wound, and tried to ignore the butterflies swooping around in his stomach, he swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. "So, where am I taking you harry?"

Harry grunted as they made their way back to the castle. "Pomfrey, she's the only person I trust these days." Draco stiffened almost unnoticeable and Harry squeezed his shoulder reassuringly but said nothing.

"Right, probably a good idea" Harry chuckled slightly then winced and pressed his hand to his side. "Of course all my ideas are good ones." Draco laughed at that and harry smiled along, not wanting to laugh in case he caused himself more pain. "First time I heard you laugh, well a proper laugh anyways" they were both quiet for a while as they walked down the empty corridors towards the infirmary.

Pomfrey wasn't too happy about their late night visit but soon forgot about the early hours after one look at harry. "How did this happen, Mister Potter?" Pomfrey motioned for Draco to help Harry towards one of the beds as she bustled about in one of her many cupboards.

"Rogue werewolf." Pomfrey clicked her tongue as Harry sat on one of the hospital beds. "What were you doing outside of the castle?" She reprimanded as she dug through an odd looking box. "I felt like taking a stroll in the moonlight, you know like they do in those muggle movies."

She came back with three vials in her hand. She gave Harry a stern look as she handed him the first potion which was a pale yellow colour "you know it's still dangerous for you Harry, those death eaters aren't going to just give up without any sort of revenge." Harry looked at the potion sceptically; the war had made him cautious about potions of any sort, no matter how innocent. "It's just a strength potion Mister Potter."

Harry sighed but took the vial, downing it in one and gagging at the horrid taste. Why they could never make a potion that didn't taste like Ron's sweaty socks he would never know. Pomfrey gently lifted his ripped hand-me-down t-shirt and breathed in sharply "how did you manage this?" Pomfrey asked as she cleaned the wound with a dab of some purple liquid that smoked upon contact and harry hissed in pain, then Pomfrey gently poked the wound with her wand and Draco watched, intrigued, as the wounds slowly knit themselves back together.

Draco had always found healing magic fascinating; he hoped that, once he graduated, he could get a job as a healer or to at least make the potions they use. He wanted to be a part of a profession that helped the wizards that needed it; he was tired of being on the wrong side.

Pomfrey gave Harry the last potion and telling him it was a blood replenishing potion when he gave it another suspicious look, it was red in colour and again Harry grimaced when he swallowed it. "Well it tasted a little better than the other one I suppose" he mumbled as he handed the empty vial back to Pomfrey. Already the colour was rising back into Harry's skin "thank you." Pomfrey smiled "you are quite welcome Mister Potter". Pomfrey sat on a chair she had conjured and looked expectantly at Harry and Draco "I expect a true story from you Mister Potter."

To Be Continued.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two; 

Once Harry had told Pomfrey the whole story, including the part about him being an illegal, unregistered Animagus, Pomfrey had her head in her hands. She lifted her head suddenly and frowned at him "and why were you out after curfew?"

Harry smiled sheepishly and sat forward. "I wasn't the only the only one who was out after curfew" Harry mumbled and then looked over his shoulder at Draco who glared back at Harry "oh well that's great, drag me into this, I only saved your arse."

"Language Mister Malfoy!" Pomfrey yelled shrilly then turned back to Harry with a stern look in her eyes "now answer the question please Mister Potter and no lies" Harry leaned back on his elbows and sighed. "I don't sleep so well these days, I'm haunted by things I'd rather not talk about..." He trailed off slowly as one particular memory forced its' way into his head.

_Harry was walking into Hogsmeade with Ron and Hermione; it was like every other day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the golden trio were laughing._

_They were going to enjoy a quiet get together with some other Gryffindor's at the three broomsticks but were ambushed by a gang of Voldemorts death eaters. They circled the golden trio, wands pointed at them from every direction._

_The three reached for their own wands but a few Expelliarmus's fired at them de-armed them and they stood there completely vulnerable and slightly scared._

_Hermione was hanging on Harry's arm while Ron shouted obscenities at the death eaters. The small group were chuckling darkly, Harry was ignoring all of them except for one; the Death eater that had picked up the golden trio's wands andthen tucked them into the folds of his robes._

_Harry studied the rest of the death eaters and realized that they were all lesser death eaters, none of them were from Voldemorts inner circle._

"_Surrender yourself Potter and we shall spare your friends!" Harry looked at the obvious leader of the group and made to step forward, he did not want his friends hurt because of his stubbornness but Hermione tightened her grip on his arm and whispered shrilly "Harry, no!" He pulled his arm from her vice-like grip and ignored her panicked screaming._

_Ron held her back he knew what needed to be done and if that meant his friends death for their lives then so be it._

_Harry felt his heart break slightly when he realized that Ron was not trying to stop him, he stopped in front of the grinning death eater and gave a cruel grin of his own that could have rivalled Voldemort himself "do it!" he hissed at the now nervous man and opened his arms in invitation._

_The death eater looked around at his comrades for a moment then growled and pressed his wand into Harry's neck "do you wish for death that much?" He asked Harry who just stared at the man blankly; they stared at each other in a battle of sorts until the man shrugged "too bad it is not my place to give you what you wish, my lord has forbidden any one to touch you but he did not say anything about your friends."_

_Harry yelled as a body binding charm was shot at him and then his friends screaming filled the air as they were tortured with the Crutiatus, curse after curse._

"...Mister Potter?" Pomfrey's questioning voice brought him out of his trance like state and he smiled apologetically at the older woman. "You have not answered my question Mister Potter."

Harry looked down at his hands guiltily playing with a loose thread on his trousers. Pomfrey handed him a clean nightshirt and he pulled it over his head "McGonagall gave permission to allow me free reign in late night walks, in any part of the castle, to... clear my head."

Harry looked back up to meet Pomfrey's eyes. "Any part of the castle Mister Potter, not the grounds outside" He sighed and nodded "I know, I can't help it. The night calls to me" Harry murmured dreamily. "Must be something to do with your Animagus" Draco murmured from beside him and Harry smiled at him and then looked back at Pomfrey as she stood, missing the joy that spread across Draco's face.

"Well I'll need to inform the Headmistress about the werewolf and the accident" she glanced at Harry who had tensed at the mention of telling McGonagall, Pomfrey smiled kindly "do not worry Mister Potter I will not tell her of your success with the Animagus transformation but she will need to know of your injury." She paused for a second and looked at Harry with a thoughtful expression that melted into fear.

"Mister Potter how did you say you got that injury?" Harry knew where this was going and he hung his head in shame "I didn't dodge fast enough Madam and I'm afraid that it was the beast's fangs that made this wound." Pomfrey gasped, her hands shooting up to cover her mouth "I'm so sorry Mister Potter" she murmured as her eyes filled with tears.

"You will have to stay here for the night for observations and if all is well you may leave in the morning!" she took a deep breath and then smiled at Harry, all traces of the previous tears gone.

"I will need to do one final test, if I may?" Harry nodded and she waved her wand in a series of complicated swirls and flicks. A green light shone around Harry briefly and Pomfrey sighed "there's only a little venom but enough to cause the changes."

Harry groaned it was always him that these things happen to. He jumped slightly when a gentle hand squeezed his shoulder and when he looked to the owner of the hand and was surprised to see tears in Draco's mercury eyes. Harry smiled and patted Draco's hand secretly happy to find someone who still cared enough about him to comfort him.

"Mister Malfoy as you have witnessed a terrible scene tonight I will allow you to stay also but I do not expect you to make this a reoccurring thing, I have enough of that from Mister Potter" she smiled when Harry chuckled and then motioned Draco to the bed next to Harry's "now both of you need rest, if you need anything just call."

"Well that was fun" Harry murmured once Pomfrey had left and then he took off his shoes and socks and then snuggled up under the thin sheet, he took off his glasses, placed them on the bedside table and laid his head on the pillow and sighed.

"Are you alright?" Draco hesitantly asked after a while "Mm-hmm" was Harry's reply as sleep was starting to claim him and he didn't want to open his eyes in case it left him. "Are you sure?" Harry sighed and mumbled "go to sleep Draco."

The sound of rustling was his confirmation that Draco was doing as he was told and Harry sighed again before turning on his side and nuzzling his face into the pillow "good night Harry."

"Good night Draco" Harry's voice was muffled from his position but it reached Draco just fine and a little blissful smile tugged at the corners of his mouth before Draco drifted off to sleep.

Draco awoke to blinding sunlight and he groaned as he pulled the cover over his head before he realized that sunlight didn't reach the dungeons. He sat up quickly, his eyes snapping open as he took in his surroundings; the infirmary.

He frowned before realization hit him; he looked over to the bed next to him and had to cover his mouth to stop from laughing. Harry was curled up in his sleep his knees pulled up to his chest and a thumb stuck in his mouth. He frowned again when Harry's face suddenly scrunched up in pain "Harry?" he called tentatively, climbing off his bed and slowing making his way over to Harry.

Then Harry started muttering in his sleep, groaning every so often. The groans and muttering steadily grew louder until the Gryffindor started screaming; his hands were clenched in the sheets no longer was he sucking on his thumb like a small infant.

Draco froze; he wasn't sure what to do, after a few moments Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her adjoining bedchambers. She grabbed a calming draught from a shelf on her way and then shook Harry's shoulders, calling his name gently. "Harry, Harry! It's ok, they can't get you; you're safe. Come back now that's it follow my voice, good. That's it, come now open your eyes." Harry gradually quietened and eventually awoke but it was not a peaceful awakening, Harry shot up and leapt from the bed trembling violently, his eyes wide with fear until they landed on the Medi-witch and he started to take deep breaths.

"I'm sorry" Pomfrey smiled gently and shook her head, she was used to Harry's dreams and knew what to do when he had one; he preferred it if she pretended that nothing had happened. She held out the calming draught and Harry took it gratefully, he sipped it and felt its effects instantly. He sighed and sat back on the bed "was it the war or the Dursleys?" she asked gently.

"Dursleys" Harry muttered and rubbed his face they had both forgotten about Draco and he made himself known by clearing his throat "Dursleys?" he asked and Pomfrey bit her lip she looked at Harry who nodded and she stood "I'll send your breakfast's in shortly and then I want to do another check on you Mister Potter."

Harry nodded again but his eyes were still focused on Draco who was becoming uncomfortable under such a determined gaze.

As soon as the Medi-witch left Harry became uncertain and Draco sighed "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to" Harry shook his head an almost desperate look on his face "oh no, it's not that I don't want to tell you, I'm just trying to think of the _easiest_ way to tell you!"

Draco was surprised for a moment but then a smile tugged at his lips "just start from the beginning." Harry stared at the alien look on Draco's face his heart giving a betraying little stutter.

The Gryffindor took a deep breath and let it out slowly "the beginning right... well, um you know where I stay during the holiday's right?" Draco shook his head and Harry sighed "ok well, I stay at my relatives; the Dursleys, they're Muggles and they absolutely hate anything to do with magic, especially me. They call me freak or boy at home, treat me like a house elf, worse even." Harry paused to let what he said sink in before continuing "all my magical stuff gets locked away in the attic, even my wand. My uncle Vernon would go through my trunk every year and sell anything of value; my clothes, Christmas presents, anything. He would burn my homework and books. One year he used my broom as firewood. They made me do all the chores in the house and cook all the meals. At night or when guests are round I would get locked in a small cupboard under the stairs, I would only get the smallest scraps of food while I was there and if I ever performed even the smallest amount of magic intentional or not my uncle would beat me in punishment for my 'freakish ways', sometimes the beatings would be so bad that I wouldn't be able to move for days."

Harry took a deep breath before continuing, looking down at his hands "sometimes he would just use his hands, you know slap me around a bit then send me to my cupboard" he chuckled but there was no amusement in the sound "if he was in a really bad mood he would use his belt, a couple of times he used a knife... I've still got the scars. It's funny I actually got more scars from my so called 'family' then I did during the war." Draco winced, he wanted to comfort the smaller boy but everything about Harry's posture screamed 'don't touch me'.

"They would still make me do the chores and cooking while I was injured and my uncle would punish me if I bled anywhere. My cousin used to play Harry hunting; he used to get all his friends to chase me and whoever caught me would get to kick the shit out of me whilst the others held me down, sounds like fun huh?" he asked when he saw Draco flinch.

Tears were falling down his cheeks now but he was too lost in his self hate to care. "I used to come back covered in bruises and cuts at the beginning of the year, sometimes even multiple bones would be broken but I always wore glamour's but still no one fucking noticed anything was wrong, not even when my friends would hug me and they could most probably feel that something was wrong."

Harry looked up at Draco to find tears trailing down his cheeks also and a great sob ripped through his body. Harry didn't know why he was pouring his soul out to this boy, he was a Slytherin, the enemy but something in Harry was telling him to trust this Slytherin and normally when he got a feeling like this it was right so he trusted in this feeling and hoped for the best. Draco climbed onto Harry's bed and pulled him into his lap, wrapping his arms around the smaller boys' waist. Harry clung to the Slytherin's robes as Draco rocked them both, whispering comforting words into Harry's ear.

"It's ok, I'm here. Don't cry, it's ok, shh." After a while Harry's sobs turned into hiccups and the Gryffindor buried his face in the Slytherins chest in embarrassment. "Was it always like that?" Draco asked quietly almost dreading the answer and when his answer was a small nod of the Gryffindor's head Draco's heart almost shattered into tiny little pieces. "Why didn't you ever tell anyone?"

"I tried but no one would believe me and I started thinking that no one cared" he said quietly and Draco's heart did break then "I care" he murmured into dark unruly locks and he rubbed lazy circles into the Gryffindor's back when he tensed up. "Thank you" the smaller boy whispered and wound his arms around the Slytherin's neck.

A louder than necessary cough pulled them apart and they stared at the Medi-witch as she stood Akimbo, levitating two trays of food beside her "I take it the talk went well?" she asked with a raised eyebrow Harry laughed nervously "as well as it could have gone."

She nodded and placed the trays beside the two boys. She flicked her wand at Harry and a sheet of parchment appeared in the air beside her she took it and read it quickly. "You seem to be in good health Mister Potter, return to your classes once you have eaten and I want you to come back here tonight just in case, it's still the full moon and I'd rather not have a werewolf running through the halls of Hogwarts!"

"Of course" Harry said with a small smile which the Medi-witch returned and then she left the infirmary to, no doubt, have her own breakfast in the great hall.

Harry stared at the door for a moment longer before turning to his breakfast and groaning. The elves had obviously heard of him being in the Infirmary and had made him a mini feast for his breakfast. The tray was almost over flowing and piled so high that Harry was surprised it hadn't toppled over. "The house elves really like you" Draco said with a small cheeky smile on his face "Ha Ha, I won't be able to eat all of this."

"Where's your Weasley friend when he's needed?" Draco sneered and Harry reckoned that Ron would be able to eat this mountain of food with no problem, so he ignored the Slytherin's insult and chuckled.

Harry picked up a slice of toast and lavered it with some kind of jam, he took an experimental bite and discovered the mystery jam to be strawberry, taking a bigger bite he moaned in satisfaction as he chewed. He opened his eyes to see Draco staring at him wide eyed, a chicken leg held in front of his open mouth.

Harry swallowed his mouth full and wiped at his face self consciously "what?" Draco shook his head and smiled distractedly "nothing" then he ducked his head and begun nibbling on the chicken in his hands. Harry looked at the blonde for a confused moment before shrugging his shoulders and taking another bite of his toast.

After they had finished eating they decided to head back to their houses to shower and change clothes, they walked side by side until the time came to split up. "So, I'll err..."

"Always so eloquent" Draco teased and was rewarded with an elbow in his ribs "shove off Draco" Harry murmured half-heartedly "I'll see you in class?" Draco nodded and Harry grinned and before Draco could stop himself, he leaned forward close enough to feel the Gryffindor's warm breath ghosting over his face. Harry's eyes were wide and confused and Draco couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his lips as he leaned the rest of the way and pressed his lips against Harry's. It was an exquisitely gentle, achingly slow, but only for a moment, feather-soft kiss.

Harry thought his heart would burst from his chest, no one had ever kissed him like that and when Draco pulled away his eyes were filled with a yearning hunger that sent shivers down the Gryffindor's spine. Draco tucked a lock of raven hair behind Harry's ear and smiled gently "I'll see you." And then he began walking away.

Harry's knees gave out and he slid down the wall until he sat abruptly on the floor. He lifted his hand to touch his mouth "WAIT!" He pulled himself off the floor. "Draco!" Harry pushed his glasses back up straight and looked around. "What the _bloody hell_ was that!" But he was alone in the corridor. Draco had vanished.

When Harry got to his dorm it was empty as he expected it to be and he quickly grabbed some clean clothes from his trunk before rushing into the bathroom and turning the water on. He stripped and then stood under the hot spray, hissing quietly when the slightly too hot water beat down on his body.

He washed his hair and body quickly and then turned off the water he used a drying charm on himself and hurried to put his cleans clothes on, almost slipping on a bar of soap in his rush.

He shrunk his invisibility cloak and stuffed it his jean pocket then he quickly checked the marauders map to find his friends, they were still in the great hall. Mumbling _'mischief managed' _he shrunk the map and stuffed it into his pocket also. Then he grabbed his school robes and raced down to the great hall.

He met Ron and Hermione just as they were leaving, Ron still chewing on a drumstick as he trailed beside Hermione who had her nose stuck in a book.

"Hey guys!" Harry called as he caught up "Hey you alright mate?" Ron asked when he caught sight of Harry's dishevelled state. Harry nodded, panting and lent on his taller Friend "what do we have first?" Harry asked when he got his breath back. Hermione looked at him from over her book. He ignored that his friends hadn't realized that he hadn't slept in the dorms last night, they'd been growing apart recently and Harry didn't really mind.

Hermione lifted an eyebrow at her fellow Gryffindor "we have care of magical creatures first Harry, how could you forget?"

Harry grunted a thank you and followed his two friends out the main doors and straight into a cold, biting wind. He pulled his cloak tighter around himself and wished that he had a thicker one. In the end Hermione cast a warming charm on him after she had grown irritated with his teeth chattering.

Ron was slumped next to Harry on a fallen tree, struggling to open a chocolate frog packet. "Open you bloody thing!" he muttered to himself. When he finally opened it he stuffed it in his mouth and pulled out the card "Oh look, I got you." He said and offered the card to Harry, he stared at the frowning picture of himself "I don't remember agreeing to being on one of those" he mumbled and then they both straightened when Hermione nudged Ron with her foot.

"Can anyone tell me what this is?" Hagrid yelled over the mumbling of the bored class. Harry looked at him and then to the over sized ferret in his hands which was muttering to itself; something about Hagrid being a big stupid oath. Ron started laughing and pointed at it receiving a rude comment back from the ferret-thing.

"I know what that is professor!" he said still laughing, Hagrid looked at him expectantly. "Yes Ron?" he pushed when the redhead burst into another laughing fit. "Well Its obvious isn't it? It's got to be some sort of relation to Malfoy!"

Harry chuckled quietly as the whole class started laughing except for the few Slytherins that were among them. "Shut up weasel!" Draco said stepping up to Ron until they were chest to chest. "Or what ferret, you gunna bite me?"

"Ok, ok calm down boys!" Hagrid said as he pulled Ron back and nodded to Malfoy who scoffed in return and lent back on a tree. "Right then can anyone tell me what this is?" Hagrid said again "anyone except Ron!" he added before Ron could say anything.

"Hermione?" he said smiling, she stepped forward "it's a Jarvey or more commonly known as a talking ferret-"she kicked Ron when he commented about it being Malfoy again, who growled at Ron stepping forward slightly but was held back by Blaise.

"Anything else Hermione?" Hagrid asked hopefully and she nodded "Jarveys live below ground, and their diet consists of moles, voles, rats, and Gnomes. Jarvey are particularly good at hunting Gnomes, and are sometimes employed to de-gnome a garden, although their methods are usually brutal." Hagrid nodded and half the class moaned when she continued still "A Franciscan monk, Brother Benedict, once had a run-in with a Jarvey in the grounds of his monastery. The Jarvey called him a "baldy", and then bit him on the nose so hard that the Monk was excused from Vespers."

The class burst into laughter at the last part and Hagrid scratched the Jarvey on the top of its head. "Very good; ten points to Gryffindor!"

Beside him Ron mouthed a silent yes and elbowed Harry gently in the ribs a couple times urging Harry to celebrate with him. The green eyed Gryffindor gave him a weak smile and looked back to Hagrid when he started to speak. "as you can hear they are capable of speaking, but unfortunately it is impossible to hold a conversation with them because all the creatures use are; short, usually rude, statements and phrases in an almost constant stream."

"Definitely a Malfoy then!" Ron murmured again and Harry stomped on the redheads foot; his patience starting to thin. "That's it Weasel; I've had enough!" Draco shouted as he approached Ron. He stepped back slightly shocked at the outburst but then recovered and pulled out his wand. Hermione started shouting at him about how stupid this was, Hagrid was muttering to the ferret thing, giving up when no one listened to him.

Draco laughed suddenly "Oh come now, Weasel do you really think you will last against me after what happened in second year?" he was obviously talking about the time when Ron's wand backfired which resulted in him throwing up slugs, a hex meant for Malfoy. Which, looking back on it, was actually quite hilarious.

Ron's face went red "shut it Malfoy!" Draco smiled triumphantly "come on then weasel hit me with your best shot!" Ron lips twitched and he flicked his wand. At first nothing happened but then people started giggling. Harry looked at what everyone was pointing at and couldn't help a snort of laughter when he looked at Draco.

"What the hell are you all laughing at?" Draco asked; which made everyone burst out laughing. Ron had changed the colour of his hair. Instead of the usual trade mark Malfoy platinum blonde it was now a collection of neon colours: pink, blue, green, orange, yellow, and purple. "Nice hair Malfoy!" someone in the crowd shouted out suddenly. He raised an eyebrow at his friends who were trying their hardest not to laugh.

Finally pansy shoved a hand mirror in his hand, his eyes widened when he glanced into his reflection. "How dare you weasel!" he growled out as he crushed the delicate mirror in his hand. Pansy whimpered when it was handed back to her and she cast a Repario spell on it.

"If that's how you want to play Weasel; then so be it, _Descendo!_" he said with a smirk on his face and almost immediately Ron started to sink into the soft earth. A strangled noise escaped his lips as he tried to stop from sinking any further. "Finite incantatem!" Hermione yelled and Ron was shot from the earth she glared at Malfoy who was laughing, he turned to pansy who cancelled the charm on his hair and told him off for crushing her mirror and how much bad luck he would get in doing so. Suddenly Ron ran at Draco aiming his wand at him "_IMPEDIMENTA!" _he shouted and Draco was thrown back by an invisible force, he flew into a tree and a sickening crack was heard when his head connected with it, his body went limp and Harry felt something snap within him. It felt like a dam had crumbled inside him and whatever ever it was holding back was rushing through his body, sending gooseflesh across his skin.

He watched as Hermione pushed her way through the crowd and instantly turned into the mother hen everyone knew her as. She gently inspected Draco's head whispering a quiet _'Episkey' _then she laid him out flat and inspected the rest of his body. Once she was certain he didn't have any other injuries she pointed her wand at his head and said "Rennervate!" at first Harry didn't think anything would happen and he was ready to turn on Ron and bash _his_ head against a tree but then a soft moan escaped the Slytherin's lips, his eyelids fluttered then slowly opened to show two confused silver orbs.

He sat up and gingerly rubbed his head "what the hell happened?" he asked no one in particular. "Ron hit you with an Impedimenta." Hermione provided when no one else answered. He glared at the red head and Harry, now that he knew that Draco was alright, let whatever it was inside him loose and he turned on his friend growling deep in his throat. It was a totally animalistic noise that sent shivers up everybody else's spines.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" he shouted at a shocked looking Weasley "YOU COULD HAVE BLOODY KILLED HIM YOU TWAT!" he continued ignoring the protests from Hermione "Harry, forget it Malfoy's fine." He turned on her then "NO I WON'T FUCKING FORGET IT!" the young witches eyes widened at Harry's words and that was when Draco noticed Harry's eyes; they were glowing. Not human eyes but wolf eyes. The blonde struggled to get up and was thankful when a pair of hands helped him to his feet; Draco nodded to Blaise who just stared at Harry as he continued his outburst.

The Slytherin walked slowly to the raving Gryffindor, pushing through the crowd that was watching in shocked silence. "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" Harry screamed when Hermione tried to calm him down by holding his arm, Hermione thought it was just another of his episodes and was ready to hex him if he became violent. He snarled at the witch and Draco noticed the fangs that were elongating in his mouth "Harry!" He called when He escaped the crowd.

The emerald eyed Gryffindor froze, his shoulders visibly tensing and he turned slowly his face was blank but his eyes were filled with fear he looked around himself. Draco looked around as well, at all the faces of confusion and fear that watched Harry.

Harry looked down at his hands and a quiet whine escaped his lips as the claws that had erupted from his fingers cut into the palms of his clenched fists. He started to tremble and Draco pulled the smaller boy into his arms "It's ok Harry, calm down." Draco murmured into his ear. Harry drew in a deep shaky breath then pulled away from the blonde. He looked at the Slytherin blankly; even his eyes were emotionless this time "no it's not ok" then turned and walked away from the giants hut. Everybody stared after the boy-who-lived for a while then looked back to Draco who was still staring after the Gryffindor with sad eyes. Draco's gaze turned to Ron and Hermione crouched in the dirt and he scowled at them. He turned away and, with a determined stride, followed after harry.

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three.

Draco found Harry sitting alone under an oak tree beside the lake, tears streaming down his cheeks as he cried silently. Sighing; the Slytherin prince sat next to him and put his arm around Harry's shoulders in an awkward one arm hug. The saviour of the wizarding rested his head in the crook of Draco's neck and sobbed.

"I can't do this" Harry whimpered into the Slytherin's pale neck. "Can't do what?" Draco asked as he drew random patterns on the Gryffindor's arm.

"I almost hurt someone Draco, I was so angry that he hurt you!" Draco's heart skipped a beat, he had always wanted Harry to get angry for him, always wanted the boy's friendship if only to be closer to the Gryffindor. "I felt so much rage, so many dark thoughts. My body moved on its own and it scared me, I don't want to hurt anyone!"

Draco sighed and kissed the raven locks "you won't hurt anybody but if you're that scared then just stay away from things that make you angry!"

"You make it sound so simple." Harry murmured sarcastically into the Slytherin's neck and then they sat quietly for a moment and watched the rippling waters of the lake.

"Why did you kiss me before?" Draco looked down at the flushing Gryffindor and smirked "do you need a reason?" a small smile tugged at Harry's lips and Draco had the sudden urge to repeat the scene from that morning "I would like one, yes."

Draco chuckled and rested his chin on the top of Harry's head "if you really must know then it was because I had a sudden curiosity to find out what a Parselmouth would taste like." Harry laughed and Draco felt proud of himself for being the one to cause the joyful sound.

"Do it again?" Harry murmured almost inaudibly. Draco looked down, in surprise of the question, into two green hope-filled eyes. _'Oh gods, is he asking what I hope he's asking?' _Draco hoped desperately that it was and he smirked to cover up his nervousness.

"Do what again?" his smirk grew when the disappointment on Harry's face was obvious, but Draco's triumphant moment only lasted a minute because a pair of warm lips hesitantly touched his neck, a shiver was Harry's indication that he was doing the right thing and he did it again with more confidence. "Kiss me again, Draco." The young Malfoy had to swallow a moan when his my name was murmured against his neck.

Draco pushed Harry to the ground with a moan and crashed his lips onto Harry's. This kiss was nothing like the gentle touch of lips like before, this kiss was a passionate war between tongues and teeth. This kiss was filled with the desire that the two boys felt for each other.

Harry clutched one hand on the back of the Slytherin's neck and the other tangled in the soft blonde locks to pull him closer. Something inside him had clicked into place when their lips had touched and Harry had no idea what it was.

Their tongues tangled together and Draco moaned at the sweet taste of the Gryffindor, he pulled away to nibble and suck on the tanned skin under his ear. He sucked ruthlessly on the skin, leaving a red mark, his mark. Draco licked the wound earning a moan from the smaller boy.

Harry pulled the blonde's head back up for another kiss; he groaned when the Slytherin bit at his lips and then ran his tongue around his panting mouth before plunging his tongue in.

The two boys broke apart to breath and Draco smirked again when he looked down at Harry who was breathing heavy and had not yet opened his eyes. The blonde boy pressed gentle open mouthed kisses against his closed eyes and he sighed contently.

He opened his eyes slowly and his green eyes stared into Draco's silver ones, a nervous smile pulling at his lips. "Does this make you my, um..." he trailed off; a blush creeping into his cheeks. Draco watched amusedly as his blush deepened when the raven haired boy glanced at Draco. "I think the word you're looking for is; boyfriend?"

Harry nodded nervously and Draco grinned "and yes, although I prefer to use the term lover." Harry chuckled "Hermione always told me I was obsessed with you, I guess she was right."

"Well of course she was right, who isn't obsessed with me?"

"Ron, for one." Draco grimaced "well I should hope so!" Harry laughed again and then there was a loud impatient screeching beside them. Both boys turned their heads to look at the giant brown owl. Draco looked back down at harry who just shrugged. Pulling himself up Draco detached the letter from the bird's leg and it ruffled its feathers before flying away.

The Slytherin looked at the seal and frowned "it's for you!" He said as he passed it to Harry; who took one look at the seal and tore the letter open reading it faster than Draco could imagine. "It's from the ministry!" he dropped the letter into his lap and stared off into the distance "they know..." he whispered. Draco took the letter out of Harry's limp hands and read the letter.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We have just recently been informed that you have come into your Animagus heritage and have been for quite some time. As you know it is against wizarding law to be an unregistered Animagus and we regret to inform you that being the 'boy-who-lived' does not excuse you, but do not mistake that we are not thankful for your defeating the dark lord._

_We expect to see you within two days to fill in the appropriate forms. If you fail to do so, then you will be arrested until further notice._

_We hope you have a nice day._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Albert j. Baggleton._

"How did they find out?" Harry asked no one in particular. Draco linked his fingers in the Gryffindor's who looked at the blonde. Draco was glad that there was no blame in his stare. "You're going to have to tell McGonagall, Harry" Draco said gently, Harry sighed and then nodded.

"When are you going to tell her?" Draco asked and Harry shrugged "now I suppose, there's no way I'm going back to class now but you'd better."

"Where'd that Gryffindor courage go Harry?" Draco teased and received a playful shove and laugh. "I'll see you at lunch?" Harry asked and Draco nodded "of course" and then Harry placed a quick, shy kiss on his lips before fleeing.

Harry stood outside of the Headmistress's office as he tried to dredge up the courage to knock on the door. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door and then entered when he heard the muffled 'come in'.

"Ah, Mister Potter, how are you?" McGonagall asked as she motioned for the seat in front of her desk "I'm fine Professor but I have a bit of a problem."

"I'm sure you have, I heard about what happened in Hagrid's lesson and I advise you to try and keep a lid on your temper." Harry hung his head in shame and nodded "of course Professor but that's not the problem I was talking about."

"Oh?" she simply said and Harry took a deep breath before continuing "well, after I met Sirius and he told me about my dad and how they were all Animagi, I found a book on Animagi in the school library. I read it from cover to cover and-"

"I think I know where this is going Mister Potter and all I need to know is did you succeed?" Harry nodded his head "and I'm guessing that the ministry has found out?" Harry nodded again and refused to look at his Professor who sighed "I'm both proud and disappointed with you Mister Potter." McGonagall stood from behind her desk and motioned Harry towards the fireplace "before we go Mister Potter would you satisfy this old lady's curiosity?"

"A panther, Professor" McGonagall nodded a small smile tugging at her lips "congratulations Mister Potter, now if you will?" she gestured to the Floo powder and Harry smiled "ladies first!" and he bowed at the waist causing McGonagall to chuckle quietly "very well" and then she grabbed a handful of the powder and climbed into the fireplace.

"The Ministry of magic!" she yelled and then threw the powder to the floor and was swallowed up by the green flames Harry sighed before following and when he arrived at the ministry he dusted the ash from his robes and followed McGonagall.

Harry had been gone all morning and when Draco didn't see him at dinner he had started to feel uneasy. "Calm down, love!" pansy said to him as he paced in the common room. _'How the hell did they find out? Surely Pomfrey wouldn't tell?' _Draco growled irritated at himself as he continued to pace. _'She promised not to tell, but she obviously did!' _

"Draco would you bloody stop that, you're making me dizzy!" Blaise yelled from his seat at the study table. The blonde growled at him but sat down in a huff and crossed his arms over his chest "really now, Draky what's got you so stressed?" pansy crooned as she shuffled closer to him on the couch. "He hasn't seen Potter all day and he's feeling neglected!" Blaise answered mockingly and Draco glared at the dark skinned boy.

Blaise and pansy knew about Draco secret infatuation with Harry Potter and the Slytherin prince sighed when he realised Blaise was right, the ice prince was feeling lonely. "Oh come now Draco, I'm sure potter has a reason for ignoring you."

"He's not ignoring me; he had to go see McGonagall." Draco muttered scornfully.

"Long bloody meeting, if you ask me" Blaise muttered under his breath as he turned back to whatever homework he'd left until last minute. "Shut it, Zabini!" Draco growled as he slouched lower in his seat. "Blaise is right sweetie..." pansy said as she attempted to pull Draco up into a dignified sitting position "what could be so important that a meeting with McGonagall would last a whole day?"

"I don't know" Draco sighed only being half true; He knew why Harry had gone to see the Headmistress but not why it was taking so long. Something moving in Draco's lap interrupted his thoughts and he looked down to see a small paper cat curling up in his lap "aww, it's so cute!" pansy exclaimed as the cat looked up at Draco with two green eyes and winked before unfolding to reveal a small note in messy handwriting.

_Draco, meet me in the Astronomy tower whenever you can get free _

_(I know what pansy can be like.)_

_I'll wait until midnight._

_HP._

As soon as Draco had finished reading the note refolded itself back into the cat, rubbed it's head on his thumb and then proceeded to pounce into the fire. "What did it say Draky?" pansy asked as she watched the paper burn. Draco smiled "just some secret admirer declaring their undying love for me!" she gasped "who was it?" she asked with an air of a killer.

"They didn't sign their name." Draco answered with a smirk as he stood and walked to the portrait "I'm going to get a snack from the kitchens, anybody want anything?" he asked hoping that nobody would speak up. No one did there were just a few shaken heads and Blaise said "no thanks, I need to finish this!"

The portrait closed quietly behind him and the snake glared at him. Draco sneered and then turned on his heel and began making his way to the astronomy tower.

The halls were relatively empty, save for the last few students that ran to their dorms. As Draco climbed the stairs to the astronomy tower he started to feel anxious and he bounded up the rest of the stairs three at a time.

Harry sat alone leaning on the rickety railings staring up at the darkening sky. He turned when Draco closed the door gently and smiled at the blonde. "What happened?"Draco asked as he crossed the room to his Gryffindor lover. Harry smile turned into a scowl and he gazed out at the sky again. "They put me on probation..." he said after what seemed like an age. Draco grimaced "how long?"

"Two months." He said simply and looked down to his interlaced hands. "Damn harry if I knew this would happen I would have told you not to save my life." That earned a smile from him but it only lasted a second "you did tell them you saved me right?" he nodded "and?" Draco pushed when the Gryffindor didn't answer "they said it didn't matter, yeah they congratulated me and praised me for being the chosen one, but I had been unregistered for so long that sort of overwrites saving someone's life!"

"Hey that life happens to be mine; and I am very thankful I still have it!" Draco grumbled and kissed the nape of Harry's neck, trying to cheer up the gloomy Gryffindor. Harry sighed and leaned into the blonde's body "doesn't matter, anyway it's only two months." He smiled weakly "so how has your day been?" he asked sarcastically.

"Boring; without you, I missed you at lunch" He said truthfully and he watched amusedly as a blush crept into Harry's cheeks. "Shut up Draco" he said but a small smile tugged at his lips "it's true..."Draco started as he nuzzled the smaller boys neck "even pansy and Blaise noticed how agitated I was!" he scoffed "the great emotionless Malfoy, reduced to a nervous wreck when his enemy disappears for a day!" Draco laughed "well they'll be surprised when they hear that I don't see you as an enemy anymore."

Harry hummed in agreement, and then suddenly burst out laughing. "What's so funny, harry?" the blonde asked with a small wary smile pulling at his lips.

"You should have seen the ministers face when he saw the hickey you left on my neck!" he chuckled; wiping tears from his eyes as he turned to look at the blonde. Draco laughed quietly then harry leant his forehead on the taller boys shoulder and sighed miserably.

Then Harry suddenly pulled away from his blonde lover "oh damn it!" he cried "what?" Draco asked startled by Harry's sudden outburst he looked at Draco desperately "I forgot I'm supposed to go back to the infirmary tonight, I have to go now!"

The boys ran down the Astronomy tower stairs and parted ways at the bottom with a quick goodbye kiss and then Harry took off running through the halls.

When he arrived at the infirmary Madam Pomfrey was waiting for him with her arms crossed over her chest "about time Mister Potter, now drink this!" she shoved a black vial towards him and Harry took it tentatively. He uncorked it and watched as a faint blue smoke rose from the contents, he sniffed it cautiously but the potion had no scent and he shrugged before downing it, which he instantly regretted when he gagged at the disgusting taste, the potion slid down his throat almost reluctantly and Harry had to force himself to not sick it back up.

Pomfrey took the empty vial back as Harry took deep breaths to clear away the sickly feeling. "Very good Mister Potter, now come with me."

Harry followed Pomfrey into a hidden room at the back of the infirmary. The door was a huge metal thing with chains and locks and it gave Harry the chills. "This was built after the war; it's made especially for uncooperative werewolves and the like," She waved her wand and the door swung open easily "and it is where you will be staying tonight."

Harry walked into the room after her and looked around. The room was well furnished with wall tapestries, thick rugs. An over cushioned couch and a large bathroom with a shower and bath tub.

The bedroom was just as lavish. The huge four poster bed had a Gryffindor comforter laid neatly over the mattress. "I hope you'll be comfortable, I'll see you in the morning Mister Potter. Good night" Pomfrey said and smiled before she left the room "Good night, Madam" Harry said before the door was closed.

Harry looked around himself and sighed. He hated being confined, no matter how big or extravagant the room it reminded him of his time at the Dursley's.

He sat down in one of the arm chairs and waited, it was all he could do. The moon would rise soon and he would find out if the werewolf venom in his blood would be enough for the complete change.

It was. Harry doubled over when his stomach felt like someone was playing jump rope with his intestines. His bones started to snap and grow, fur, the same colour as his hair, shot from his pours and a tail sprouted from his spine.

It was agony but mercifully quick and soon in his place stood a midnight wolf with glowing emerald eyes. The beast lifted its head and howled.

Draco listened to the howls as they echoed through the halls, it was an eerie sound and it sounded so sad to Draco that he had to blink away tears. "A penny for your thoughts?" He turned and scowled at Blaise "sorry muggle saying." The blonde Slytherin lifted an eyebrow and Blaise chuckled "anyway, what's up?" Draco sighed and turned back to his book "nothing."

"Well if you're sure. Me and some of the others are going down to the kitchens; you coming'?" Draco turned back to his friend and mock pouted "oh so you go to the kitchens with the first years but not me?"

"Ha ha your hilarious, you coming or not?" Draco sighed "no I went earlier remember?" Blaise looked at him then like he knew that he hadn't really gone to the kitchens and Draco swallowed nervously. "Suit yourself." And then he left and Draco heard him shout "he's not coming" at the rest of them.

Despite the rumours about Slytherin's circling the school the snakes were loyal and faithful to each other. They were like the family that many Slytherin's never got because of their parents infatuation with serving the dark lord.

Another howl reached Draco's room and he sighed, dog earing his book he got off his bed and entered his bathroom. The bath began filling with warm water at a wave of his wand and he stripped off his clothes after pouring a bubble bath of his own creation into the warm water.

Draco lowered himself into the water with a contented sigh and relaxed completely. He stayed in the water for what seemed like hours, he brushed his fingers through his hair and frowned at the prune-like skin. He dipped his head under the water and then climbed out of the bath, wrapping a towel around his waist he spelled the water away and then used a drying charm on his hair. Combing his fingers through the blonde strands he re-entered his bedroom and pulled a pair of dark green silk boxers from his drawer and then a pair of black sweats from his wardrobe before climbing into his bed; pulling the bed-curtains closed.

As he drifted off to sleep he heard the hushed whispers of his Slytherin brethren as they returned from their nightly raid of the kitchens.

**TBC.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four.

_/Parseltongue/_

When Harry awoke he found himself lying, naked, in front of the fireplace. He groaned quietly as he sat up and discovered he had a pounding headache and most of his muscles were beyond sore. Harry staggered into the bathroom and turned the shower on; he stepped under the hot spray and moaned. He scrubbed the sweat from his body using with the bar of soap he found on the shelf and then used it on his hair.

After his shower he wrapped a towel around his hips and ventured out into the main sitting room again to search for his clothes, which he found all over the place, in tatters. His glasses were on the floor in front of one of the armchairs and he quickly put them back on.

It was then that the metal door swung open and Pomfrey came in with a change of clothes and a pair of fancy black shoes. "Well I see you haven't made much of a mess" she said as she flicked her wand at the remains of Harry's clothes and they disappeared "I suggest buying new clothes next Hogsmeade weekend, Mister Potter." She handed him the pile of clothes in her hand and smiled. "A house elf brought these to me last night."

Harry thanked her and she left with a nod, he quickly threw on the faded jeans and the long-sleeved t-shirt that had a Hungarian horntail in flight on the front. He looked down at the miniature beast and it puffed out its chest proudly. The shoes were actually the ones he wore at the Yule ball, he didn't think they went with the casual clothes he was wearing but shrugged and transfigured them into a pair of dark green muggle converse. Then he joined the Medi-witch in the infirmary. "Are you feeling alright Mister Potter? No sickness?" Harry shook his head and then winced "just a headache" he groaned as he rubbed his temples. Pomfrey chuckled and then gave him a headache reliever "that's to be expected, now off to the great hall with you!" she said as she took the empty vial from Harry, smiling sadly she watched him run from the infirmary.

The great hall was empty except for a handful of grumpy Ravenclaws and a couple of Hufflepuffs. Harry sat in his usual place somewhere in the middle of the table, facing the rest of the hall and made up a bowl of porridge with honey.

Ron and Hermione entered the hall shortly after and Ron sat as far away from Harry as possible without being too far to listen to any gossip. Hermione smiled in way of apology and Harry shrugged, he had expected as much from the red head after the events the other day but he didn't expect Ginny to sit next to him, so close she was practically in his lap.

She turned to him and smiled sweetly "morning Harry" she said in a voice that she must have thought sounded sexy but actually sounded like she smoked too much. "Morning Ginny" he mumbled into his goblet of pumpkin juice. "Where were you last night?" she asked and Harry could have slapped himself. _'of course Ginny would notice' _he thought to himself, Ginny Weasley could have been Harry Potter's personal stalker with the amount of time she spent following him around and now that she had mentioned it Hermione was staring at him in realization, like she hadn't actually noticed that he hadn't been at the Gryffindor dorms for at least two nights.

"I was at the infirmary" Harry mumbled around a spoonful of porridge. He knew he wouldn't get out of this by lying now that Hermione was involved. "Whatever for?" Hermione asked beating Ginny, who was now glaring at Hermione, in asking. "Just a little accident, nothing to worry about!"

"Two nights Harry, why where you in the infirmary for two nights?" Hermione asked lowering her book and Harry saw Ron grimace beside him. If ever Hermione would stop reading her book you knew you were in trouble.

Harry sighed "I fell down the stairs whilst I was out after curfew, McGonagall found me and gave me detention, I had to help Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital wing and we finished really late so she let me borrow one of the infirmary beds for the night." Harry hoped to Merlin that his lie had been believed and when Hermione nodded and stuck her nose back in her book he gave a mental cry of victory.

"Oh Harry you must be so tired!" Ginny said as she leant on Harry's shoulder, he groaned quietly and looked around him for help his eyes caught furious silver ones and he pleaded with his eyes for Draco to do something. Draco smirked and Harry could have cried when the Slytherin stood and strolled towards the Gryffindor table. Harry actually sighed when Draco stopped behind him.

"Hey she-weasel selling yourself out again?" he sneered and Ron shot up from his chair "take that back Malfoy!" he yelled and the rest of the great hall fell silent as they watched eagerly for the fight to unfold.

"No, I don't think I will" Draco smirked and Ron pointed his wand at the blonde's face "take that back or I'll hex-"

"Mister Weasley put your wand away this instant!" McGonagall yelled shrilly as she stepped between the two "Mister Malfoy, back to your table. Mister Weasley you shall attend Detention tonight with Professor Slughorn!" Ron groaned and then left the great hall, stomping and pushing past a group of second years who had just come through the door.

McGonagall shooed Draco away and Harry mouthed a _'thank you'_ at him. Draco grinned cheekily and mouthed_ 'Coward' _back and then he went back to his table where Blaise and Pansy began questioning him.

"I hate him!" Ginny growled from her spot beside Harry, her cheeks were flushed red and her hands were clenched around a spoon. "Why didn't you say anything, Harry?" She asked as she dropped the spoon and pasted a fake smile on her face "about what?" Harry asked distractedly as he read through the Quidditch section of the Daily Prophet.

She made an irritated sound and grabbed his arm; he looked at her "about what? Harry a Slytherin just insulted me; _your girlfriend!_" she growled the last two words and Harry frowned "I don't remember asking you out."

She smiled hesitantly "but you love me right?" she asked, confusing creasing her forehead. "Like a sister Ginny, nothing more."

Harry was aware of all the people watching them and he wished that he could have started this conversation somewhere more private. "What do you mean harry?" Harry sighed and rubbed his hands over his face "I'm sorry Gin, I really am but I see you and all of your family as the Family _**I**_never had. I can't love you the way you love me!"

"But I love you!" she argued and Harry groaned "my whole family and most of the wizarding world expects us to marry, my father has even given us his blessings!" tears were glistening in her eyes now and Harry felt a pang of guilt clench his heart "Ginny, you are a very attractive girl, smart, funny and I'm sure there's someone else out there better for you." He said gently but she shook her head stubbornly.

"NO! I want you Harry Potter, no one else will do!" Harry was beginning to lose patience and he turned to face the youngest Weasley "I'm gay Ginny, now get over yourself!" he growled quietly so only she could hear and then he got up and made his way to the transfiguration classroom, leaving the distressed wails of Ginny behind him.

Harry was the first student to get to transfiguration and McGonagall smiled at him when he entered "How are you feeling Mister Potter?" Harry returned the smile and put his bag on his desk "oh you know, so-so. Oh and Professor, you gave me a detention last night" Harry said simply and McGonagall nodded in understanding "of course Mister Potter." Harry sat in his seat and got his Transfiguration text book out ready just as a commotion in the hall caught both of their attentions "who is it now?" McGonagall mumbled and then a shout answered her question.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER, YOU'RE IN FOR A WORLD OF HURT!" Harry stood when a red-faced Ron marched into the room with Hermione and Ginny trailing behind him. Hermione was trying to pull him back but with his bigger size he was just dragging her along. "What's the matter, Ron?" Harry asked and then fell back with a cry when Ron's fist connected with his jaw.

"Mister Weasley you will cease this behaviour at once, or you will have a week's worth of detentions!" Ron ignored her and towered over Harry who was still sprawled out on the floor holding his aching jaw. "You broke my little sister's heart!" He let Harry stand but then made to punch Harry again, Harry dodged back in time and the meaty fist flew through empty air.

"So help me Harry, when I get my hands on you!" Ron then proceeded to chase Harry around the classroom, he wasn't using his wand so Harry knew he didn't want to do any permanent damage, or he had just forgotten that he was a wizard in his rage, but Harry didn't want to get punched again. "Ron, wait! I can explain!" Harry yelled as he dodged another fist it missed his head but Ron's other fist hit him in the stomach, he gasped when the air was knocked out of him. Ron punched him in the stomach again and Harry fell to his knees.

"My sister not good enough for you huh?" he kicked Harry in the head and Harry saw stars. He could hear faint screaming through the ringing in his head but before he could make sense of the shrill words he felt another kick hit his stomach and he gasped again. He was gradually losing it. That same feeling that he felt at Care of magical creatures was slowly creeping up his spine. Another kick to his chest had him biting his lip to keep in the pained cry and the fang that had lengthened pierced through his lip. He was used to beatings, got them all the time at the Dursley's but he wasn't used to the rage that was burning through his body, urging him to attack, to cause _his_ attacker injury.

The attacks stopped abruptly and when he opened his eyes he saw Ron on the floor beside him; frozen. He gingerly looked up to see McGonagall pointing her wand at the Weasley. She was breathless and looked at the red-head with wide, disbelieving eyes. "class is cancelled, Miss Granger please gather some people to take Mister Weasley to the hospital wing, Mister Potter come with me!" and then she swooped out of the room.

Harry shakily got to his feet and coughed, he swayed and grabbed the nearest table to steady himself then he slowly left the classroom and as he passed Ginny he heard her whisper "you deserve this." And those three words were like an arrow through his heart.

McGonagall stopped a few hallways away in a deserted corridor "take deep breaths Mister Potter." She said when she turned to him "why?" Harry wheezed "look at your hands" she said simply and when Harry did he found thick black, wickedly curved claws in place of his bitten fingernails. They stood in the corridor for at least ten minutes while Harry breathed. Eventually the claws shrunk back into normal human fingernails and Harry sighed.

"I'm sorry Mister Potter but after today's incident I cannot let you stay in the Gryffindor dorms," she said as she began walking again, Harry hurried to follow "normally you would get two choices; your own dorm or be placed in a different house, unfortunately during the war the guest rooms were destroyed and they were never rebuilt so you will have to be placed in another house."

"I have no problem with that Professor." Harry mumbled and McGonagall sighed "there is one other problem Mister Potter, every house is full except for..." she glanced at Harry out of the corner of her eye and grimaced "Slytherin."

They stopped to wait for a staircase to move into position and Harry frowned "oh" McGonagall rested her hand on his shoulder briefly and then cleared her throat "exactly, it will only be temporally until we can find somewhere else of course." They descended the stairs once they stopped and Harry sighed "I don't mind Professor, the Slytherin's haven't been as hostile this year, I'll just have to put alarms around my bed at night" He joked and McGonagall chuckled. "You have my permission to take a break from the rest of your classes today Mister Potter, so I suggest you get some rest. You look like you need it."

They parted ways with a stern 'go to the infirmary' from McGonagall. Harry's shoulders slumped when she disappeared around the corner and he pulled the marauder's map from his pocket, un-shrunk it and murmured _'I solemnly swear, I am up to no good' _he checked the infirmary and only saw Madam Pomfrey's and Neville Longbottom's dots.

Neville was on an infirmary bed and Pomfrey was in her office, Harry thought it safe enough to go and so he turned on his heel and went back the way he had come. He passed few Gryffindor's on the way back and none of them hexed or insulted him. '_Gossip's slow today' _he thought as he passed a couple of third years.

Neville was asleep on one of the infirmary beds when Harry arrived, his feet dangling off the end. He knocked on the Medi-witch's office door and waited patiently for her. When Pomfrey opened the door she gasped "Mister Potter, what happened?" she ushered him towards a bed and Harry explained what happened whilst she applied paste to his bruises. "Well I never, what a riotous boy." She huffed as she put the lid back on the small jar "put some of this on again before you go to bed." She handed him the jar and then healed the hole in his lip "how is everything else?" she said as she waved her hand, indicating his whole body.

Harry shrugged "fine" she nodded and patted his shoulder "off you go then" Harry hopped off the bed and caught sight of Neville again. "What's wrong with Neville?" he asked as he stood at the end of the taller boys' bed. From what he could see Neville looked fine, there were no bruises, cuts or scrapes. No blood or puss, no warts, no injury of any kind.

"Ah, well during Herbology he was gassed by some plant and it knocked him straight out. He should be waking up soon." And as if he had heard them talking about him he began to stir. His eyes fluttered open and he groaned before rubbing at his eyes, Harry knew how harsh the lights in the infirmary could be. "Ah, finally awake Mister Longbottom? How are you feeling?" the Medi-witch asked as she waved her wand about his head.

Neville groaned again "like I have a heard of hippogriffs stampeding around in my head!" he mumbled and Pomfrey clicked her tongue "Mister Potter could you get Mister Longbottom a headache reliever, you know where they are?"

"Yes, Madam" Harry answered as he entered the Medi-witch's office and grabbed a small vial of the potion from the cupboard and then rushed back into the infirmary, he handed the vial to Neville who drank it quickly "that's better" he sighed and then smiled at Harry. "Hey, Harry what you in here for?" He asked and Harry huffed out a puff of air "Ron and I had a little disagreement."

Pomfrey clicked her tongue but said nothing as she ushered Neville out of the bed so she could straighten the sheets. "What was the disagreement about?" Neville asked as he climbed off the bed "I'm sure you'll find out about it from Ron" Harry said as he ran his hands through his hair "I'd rather hear it from you" Neville said seriously.

Harry laughed humourlessly and slumped onto the bed that Pomfrey had just neatened up "I refused to go out with Ginny and he took it personally, I'm not going to date somebody I don't love just because the wizarding world expects it!"

"There's nothing wrong with that Harry" Neville said and then Pomfrey stood in front of her with arms akimbo "neither of you are injured, I want you out of my infirmary, get to class!" Harry and Neville grinned at each other and left quickly.

The rest of the morning went by quickly for Harry and when he went to the great hall for lunch McGonagall stopped him outside the door "your belongings have been moved into your room in the Slytherin dorms. The password is loyalty; I hope I don't have to remind you to be civil?"

"Of course not Professor" Harry confirmed with a small smile and McGonagall nodded once. "Enjoy your lunch Mister Potter."

"Thank you Professor" Harry waited outside the hall for a moment after McGonagall had entered, mainly to calm his frayed nerves. He knew that news of his and Ron's fight would have spread around the school by now and he was hesitant to face the accusing stares.

He considered not going in and instead having his lunch in the kitchen with the house elves who, he was sure, wouldn't neglect him with demands of what he should or shouldn't be doing as the saviour of the wizarding world but he knew that he would have to show himself to the rest of the school sooner or later. Although he would rather it be later.

Making his decision Harry took in a deep breath before slowly letting it out and pushing open the massive doors. As soon as he did all eyes turned to stare at him and an almost dead silence spread throughout the hall. Harry swallowed nervously before making his way over to the Gryffindor table, he sat at the end and every one close to him shuffled away earning an irritated huff from the saviour.

The hall broke out into quiet murmurs as he started eating; he ignored them and focused on his food it was then that his owl landed in front of him with the daily prophet tied to her leg. He felt guilty buying a new owl after the war but Wynne was a very loyal and loving owl. She was a Bengal eagle owl, an elegant and beautiful bird and Harry loved her just as much as he loved Hedwig.

"Hey there girl" he murmured as he relieved her of her load and fed her a bit of bacon, she hooted consolingly before taking off and flying back out of the high window she had come in from. Harry watched her go before he turned back to his paper and frowned. On the front page was a picture of Surprise, surprise; him.

The picture was one of him shaking the minister of magic's hand. He had awarded with some medal and the minister had offered him a career as an Auror, Harry had declined. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life fighting the bad guys.

It wasn't the picture that had him standing up in anger; it was what the article said;

_**The Boy-Who-Lived, Bats for the wrong team.**_

_**By Rita Skeeter.**_

_**Earlier today an Anonymous letter was sent to me at the daily Prophet concerning Mister Harry James Potter, Saviour of the wizarding world and every woman's dream man, according to the Witch's weekly.**_

_**The letter had many interesting facts about our Saviour but the one that was most fascinating to me was that Harry Potter, vanquisher of the dark lord is, in reality, a very gay man. The letter also revealed a very shocking secret. According to our Anonymous sender Mister Potter had an unhealthy obsession with the former Deatheater; Draco Lucius Malfoy. **_

Harry stopped reading and slammed the paper down onto the table making a few of the other Gryffindor's jump in surprise. He glared at Ginny because she was the only person he had told and she smirked back. Growling, Harry stood and left the great hall as quickly as he could, shoving past a group of Ravenclaw's on his way.

He travelled down into the dungeons until he got to a portrait of a huge black snake with golden eyes _/Sstupid Gryffindor iss losst!/ _it hissed and Harry smirked. For some reason, even though he no longer held a part of Voldemort's soul inside of his scar (which had disappeared after he had 'died' that night), he could still speak Parseltongue.

_/Good afternoon Ssnake friend/ _he hissed back and the snake's head shot up _/ah you musst be the greatss Harry Potter, this one hass heard about you/_ Harry frowned and scratched the back of his head _/that one knows thiss oness name, may thiss one know that oness name?/ _ The snake shook its arrow shaped head _/thiss one hass no name, thiss one doess not need a name/ _Harry smiled at the snake's stubbornness. _/will Ssnake friend bid this one enter?/ _He asked instead of arguing with the snake.

The snake looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded his head slowly _/thiss one requiress the ssecret wordss next time/ _Harry grinned and agreed before the snake opened his portrait.

Harry walked in slowly as he admired the elegance of the Slytherin common room. The room he was currently in was neat and orderly, the floor was clear with hardly a speck of dirt. There were no windows, except for the huge floor to ceiling ones which looked into the murky waters of the lake. Instead greenish lamps lit the room giving it a relaxed feeling. There was a huge fireplace at one end of the room and in front of it were low back black and green sofas. It was the complete opposite of Gryffindor tower and Harry thought he could like living there.

He wandered about for a bit, searching for his room. When he found it he was in a daze, almost every room he had been in had at least two expensive items and a wardrobe full of the latest, luxurious clothing. Each room was decorated differently and he found that one Slytherin really liked the colour red, whom? He did not know.

He sat on the unmade bed in the room he guessed was the one he was to be sharing and sighed. His trunk was sat on the floor by the end of his bed, he waved his hand and it opened, another wave and his wardrobe opened. He inspected the inside and found that it was bigger on the inside. "I love magic" he murmured as he snapped his fingers and his clothes began floating over to the wardrobe and hanging themselves on the hooks.

He arranged his books by hand and lovingly caressed the cover of each book before placing it on the shelf; reading was his favourite thing, after flying of course. He could lose himself in a good story, be someone different whenever he wanted and he didn't have to worry about the consequences.

When he was done unpacking he grabbed a book, sprawled across his bed on his stomach with a pillow under his chin and read while he waited for the Slytherin's to return.

He heard the chattering of Slytherin's just as he was finishing his second book. He sighed, placed the book next to him on the bed and stretched, his muscled groaned after so long of laying still and he moaned at the delicious feeling. The door swung open and Draco walked in, he didn't notice Harry lounging like some cat on the other bed and he walked straight to his bed and turned his back to Harry and began to undress. Draco was pale ivory, all over, once his robes and shirt had been peeled off, revealing a smooth and muscular back and strong arms, Draco turned and Harry stared at the practically hairless body except for a pale shadow trailing down from his navel, which Harry followed with his eyes.

His eyes trailed back up the chest to look at the Slytherin's face but his eyes froze on his chest where three ragged scars taunted him. He had given the beautiful Slytherin those scars and he whined quietly, it was then that the blonde noticed him. His head shot up and he stared, surprised at Harry.

"What are you doing here, Harry?" the Slytherin asked as he tried to subtly hide his scars by putting on a clean shirt. Harry shrugged and rolled onto his back, his head hanging off the side of the bed "McGonagall said it's too dangerous for me to stay in Gryffindor tower, so I've been moved here." Draco sat next to him on the bed and looked down at him "why is it too dangerous?" He asked, frowning and Harry sat up and stared at him incredulously. "You mean you haven't heard?"

"I heard you and the Weasley had a falling out" he said as he tucked a lock of Hair behind Harry's ear. The blonde hissed when he found the bruise on his lover's jaw. "Did he hit you?"

"Multiple times" and then Harry smiled gently, mainly to reassure his Slytherin "but most of the bruises are healed." Draco pulled Harry into a tight embrace and sighed deeply. "The other Slytherin's will keep an eye on you outside of the dorms." Harry shook his head and turned his face into the blonde's neck "I don't need protection" he mumbled and a rumbling chuckle vibrated up Draco's throat "I'm sure you don't Mister Saviour but it would put me at ease."

Harry didn't argue instead he nuzzled his nose against Draco's neck "I've always hated that title" he murmured. Harry felt a vibration travel through Draco's chest as he chuckled "then I won't call you it." Harry pressed a gentle kiss to the Slytherin's collar bone "we should get to sleep." Draco agreed and Harry quickly snatched some pyjamas from his wardrobe and retreated into the small bathroom. He locked the door after him and quickly began to strip off his clothes; he caught a glance of himself in the mirror and frowned.

Harry hated his body; he wasn't vain, far from it. In fact he was very self conscious of his body with good reason; his body was covered in multiple different scars, some from the war but most from living with his relatives.

Harry ran his fingers over one very obvious scar on his chest; _freak _it said, his uncle had carved it into his chest when he was fourteen after a burst of accidently magic. Just below was another scar, a burn scar. The wrinkled skin was hideous and Harry ran his hand over it as he remembered how it was made; his aunt had pressed a heated metal spatula to his abdomen because he had burnt their breakfast.

Harry looked at his many other scars and felt an indescribable disgust at himself, he looked down at his arms; at the vertical scars lining his arms from wrist to elbow joint, the scars he had made himself. He considered making more but sudden knocking on the door startled him from his dark thoughts. "Hey hurry up Harry; I need to brush my teeth!" Draco called from the other side of the door and Harry hurried to pull on his grey sweats and long sleeved black T-shirt. He cast a quick full body glamour just in case and then quickly brushed his teeth before unlocking the door and admitting Draco entrance.

"Took you bloody long enough" Draco moaned as he barged into the bathroom and began gathering hairsprays and face creams.

Harry left him to his nightly routine and climbed into his new bed he moaned at the softness of the mattress and pillows and was surprised to find the bed already warm, a charm that was forever active in the Slytherin dorms. He drifted off to sleep listening to Draco's gentle humming.

_A soft hand trailed down the side of his face, leaving behind it a path of fire. A set of lips caressed the skin beneath his ear before travelling down his neck. Blonde hair brushed against the sensitive skin left in the wake of the lips, sending shivers down the entire length of his body. The other person let out a hushed laugh, amused by his reaction._

_Before he knew it, a strong hand was on his chest, pushing him down to a soft surface. The other person hovered above him on their hands and knees._

"_Potter…"_

_The voice was soft and playful. A glint of white flashed in the darkness, the hint of a smile. A hand grabbed a hold of his shirt and lifted. He shifted enough for it to be removed. The same hand then went to his belt, undoing it swiftly. Before he knew it, his trousers were laying next to him. His exposed skin was immediately covered in goose bumps._

_The other individual sat up on their heels and removed their own shirt. A flat, pale chest was exposed. In a quick, agile movement, the trousers followed, landing with his. His heart began racing._

_Two large hands trailed down his chest. His back arched as jolts of pleasure ran down his spine. The fingers stopped at the band of his boxers. His breath hitched noticeably, and that was taken as approval. The fingers gripped the elastic and pulled. His body was now entirely exposed._

"Potter_…"_

_The voice was different now. It hissed his name coldly and it made him shiver for a completely different reason. He was no longer lying on a soft bed, but chained to a wall, his naked body rubbing against the cold stone painfully. He tugged on his chains with a growing panic and frantically searched the small cell he was in; it was empty except for a stall with a lit candle on._

_There was a figure standing in the shadows and he called out to him hopefully. A cold laugh echoed in the cell and the figure stepped forward into what little light the candle was giving out. Voldemort grinned at him; his black robes swirling around his feet in a gentle breeze._

_The snake faced man grabbed his jaw in a vice-like grip which sent throbbing jolts of pain through his jaw, he hissed as a wand was dug into his neck._

_He was tortured by the evil snake faced man for what felt like hours until eventually the man grew bored and drew back. He hung there gasping breathlessly and watched in fear as the man stripped himself of his robe. Voldemort was pale, sickly so and his skin looked slightly scaly; It reflected the light from the candle like a snakes would._

_Voldemort approached him and the boy chained to the wall flinched back in fear when two cold, scaly hands ran down his chest. The hands gripped his waist tightly almost painfully. His mind went blank. All he felt were those hands, he concentrated on the flickering flame of the candle so he wouldn't focus on what he knew would happen next._

_His ankles were pulled up and forced to wrap around a slim waist. He was taken quickly but it didn't ease the agonizing pain, he was being ripped apart continuously, every thrust caused a new burst of pain. Voldemorts hot, moist breath on his neck made him shudder in revulsion._

_He screamed and Voldemort laughed. He sobbed and pleaded for it to stop but it didn't. He clenched his fists, his blunt, bitten nails digging into the soft skin of his palms, leaving crescent shaped cuts._

_Voldemort tensed and grunted as the __hardness inside of the small boy throbbed violently. The dark lord spilt his seed into the abused hole; creamy white mixing with ruby red. The boy's legs were dropped and he hung there, his eyes blank and his breathing shallow._

_The snake-like man dressed and left, chuckling darkly. The candle went out and the boy was left in the pitch black, there were hands on his shoulders suddenly, shaking him__ and he struggled, screaming again, fearful that Voldemort had come back._

Harry's eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly almost head butting Draco who was stood over him with a scared expression on his face. Harry looked around in a panic, his wand aimed at any potential threat, the dream of his most feared memory still holding him. "Harry?" Draco said quietly, afraid that any noise, no matter how quiet, could set Harry off on a defensive rage.

The raven haired teen turned to his Slytherin lover slowly, his eyes were still slightly glazed over from sleep but they cleared quickly when they landed on Draco's face. "Harry, you were screaming. What happened?" Draco demanded and Harry's eyes filled with fear.

Voldemort is dead that will never Happen again.

Harry put his head in his hands and began tugging at his fringe. Draco pulled his hands away and his thumbs began absentmindedly rubbing small circles on Harry's wrists. "What's wrong, Kitten?" Draco murmured and Harry looked up at the blonde confused.

Draco blushed prettily and shrugged "a nickname, because of your Animagus" he smiled slightly "Panther didn't really sound right."

Harry giggled quietly and sighed "I like it... Dragon" Draco blushed again but there was a small smile on his face, then he became serious "are you going to tell me what happened?" Harry ducked his head and chewed on his lip. "It was just a nightmare." Harry mumbled nonchalantly and Draco sighed "you were screaming Harry" he said again and Harry whimpered. "Please tell me Kitten, it will help if you talk about it."

Harry shook his head, he couldn't tell Draco about the dream. He was soiled, impure and Draco wouldn't want him if he knew, he would leave and harry wouldn't be able to live if he lost his mate along with everyone else, wait... Mate? Did he just refer to Draco as his mate? But he had no creature inheritance... oh, the werewolf. Harry had forgotten about that catastrophic accident.

Harry looked up into Draco eyes and something, somewhere inside him sparked to life and practically purred. "You're my mate" Harry mumbled so quietly that it was barely above a whisper "pardon?" Draco asked thinking that Harry was trying to tell him about his night terror.

"You're my mate" Harry said louder and Draco's eyes widened in surprise. They sat in a shocked silence for a moment before Draco took in a sharp breath "your mate, me?"He asked with a slightly croaky voice, Harry nodded and Draco coughed "are you sure?" Harry nodded again and Draco looked away quickly.

Harry felt a sense of dread start to build up. _'He's going to reject me' _he thought and he looked down at his hands with tears in his eyes but he refused to cry "you don't have to be with me if you don't want to."

He said loud enough for Draco to hear and the blonde teen's head snapped around to stare at him "I know most people wouldn't want to be with me if they knew what I was."

"Of course I want to be with you Harry!" Draco cried. He cradled Harry's face with his hands, forcing the smaller teen to look at him "but do you really want to be with me, the ex-Deatheater?" Harry grabbed Draco's hands quickly, his eyes wide with understanding, his mate wasn't rejecting him! "That doesn't matter to me Dragon you should know that, I love you. Nothing and no one will ever change that!" Draco stopped breathing and Harry pulled away in surprise, he had just said the forbidden word, the word that keeps breaking his heart.

He promised himself he would never use that word but he just had and now he would be rejected for sure. Before Draco could even gather his thoughts Harry was running for the door, Draco jumped up and caught him before he could escape. Draco expected him to struggle but instead he went stiff and refused to move or even look at Draco for that matter, his eyes were scrunched closed and his fists clenched at his sides.

Draco studied him in silence for a few moments and then sighed; he saw Harry flinch and enveloped him in a tender hug. The smaller teen relaxed slightly and then tensed back up again "what's wrong Harry?" Draco asked gently and Harry shook his head stubbornly. Draco tightened the hug and asked again.

Harry let out a sob that racked through his whole body "I said the forbidden words."

"Forbidden words?" Draco asked confused and Harry sobbed again as tears began running down his cheeks. "I love you, they are the forbidden words, every time I say it to someone they hurt me or someone kills them, so I promised myself to never say them again and I just did!" Harry held onto Draco's night shirt like a life line, his knuckles white from the grip.

Draco waited until Harry was more composed and when his gut-wrenching sobs turned into uncontrollable hiccups he lowered his mouth to Harry's ear and kissed it gently "I love you too," He whispered gently and Harry froze, the Gryffindor's head slowly lifted and he stared at Draco, his eyes were a tornado of emotions; fear, wonder, hope and love were just a few of the most noticeable ones.

His green eyes flitted over the pale face, searching for any sign of a lie and when he found none a wide, ecstatic, grin stretched over his face and Draco was captivated with the beauty of his mate.

"You love me?" Harry asked and his hands hovered over Draco's face afraid that if he touched him he would disappear, although Draco's hands were placed quite securely on Harry's hips. "Say it again?" Harry asked breathlessly and Draco smiled affectionately, he kissed the tip of Harry's nose "I love you".

"Again?" Draco kissed his temples "I love you."

"I love you so much" the blonde mumbled against the tan column of Harry's neck, he nibbled the delicate collar bone and then left another kiss mark symmetrical to his first one. "Love you, Kitten."

Harry was panting harshly now and Draco lifted his head, he leaned in until their lips were almost touching and whispered it once more before he devoured the smaller boy's mouth. Draco nibbled and licked at Harry's mouth before gently pushing his tongue into the unresisting mouth; he tasted every inch of the moist cavern and moaned quietly when Harry's tongue began to return the favour.

They pulled apart and rested their foreheads together, panting, their breaths mingling they were both in a state of arousal but they didn't go any further instead they both climbed into Harry's bed and drifted off into blissful sleep.

Draco awoke slowly and grumpily, he was not a morning person, everyone who knew him would agree. The first thing that registered in his hazy mind was the two green eyes staring up at him. "Morning" the eyes said and Draco replied sleepily. The eyes giggled and something rather large and warm wiggled against his side. Draco looked down and realized it was a body and from what he could feel this body was very well formed, all firm muscle.

Draco ran his hand down the hard stomach and frowned when it twitched "erm, Draco" the Slytherin ignored the voice and continued moving his hand down until he got to an interesting piece of anatomy that was standing up to meet him. He ran a finger along the length and heard the voice gasp, another hand grabbed his and he looked at the offending appendage in confusion.

"let go" he grumbled, a rumbling laugh filled his ears and he found himself looking up for the source and he collided with those gorgeous green eyes again and being more awake then he was before he noticed the face surrounding those eyes and he blushed "sorry" he mumbled as he pulled his hand away from Harry's crotch. "Oh I don't mind Draco; I just really need to use the loo." Harry said cheekily and then stumbled out of the bed and toward the bathroom, clothes following behind him from his closet, he closed the door behind him and Draco frowned, was he not allowed a sneak peek?

Now that he was fully awake, Draco slowly clambered off the bed and stretched, his back popped and he groaned in satisfaction. He collected his toiletry bag and laid some clean robes out on his bed and waited for Harry to finish.

Harry walked out in the same sort of clothes he usually wore; a black and white striped, long-sleeved t-shirt that was too big, it hung off one shoulder to reveal unblemished, tanned skin. There was something about the bit of skin that put Draco on edge but he couldn't place why. It felt like something was missing, like there was meant to be something on that piece of delicious looking skin. Draco stared at that bit of skin for a moment before shrugging and putting it off to ask Harry about later.

He had blue, faded and ripped jeans on his legs and Draco supposed they were styled like that but they were too long and held up with an old black leather belt. On his feet were some old, banged up sneakers.

Draco sneered at the peasant like clothes and scoffed "those Muggles had no idea what they were doing, next Hogsmeade weekend; I'm taking you clothes shopping!"

Harry smiled and pulled on his school robes, he had bought himself a few new clothes before the start of the school year but he thought he didn't deserve to wear anything but his cousin's old second hand stuff. A thought that had been beaten into him by his uncle.

Draco entered the bathroom and kept the door slightly open so when he turned the shower on steam drifted through the crack. Harry decided he would go wait for him in the common room so he threw his textbooks in his backpack and grabbed a book to read while he waited. The common room was empty when he got down there but after he settled on one of the black armchairs Slytherins began emerging from their rooms, they were chatting loudly until they caught sight of Harry.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room and distrust emanated from the Slytherin's in almost visible clouds. Pansy and Blaise pushed through the crowd; Pansy was mumbling about manners and not blocking hallways that are in use. Blaise on the other hand smiled at Harry "morning, Potter" at the sound of his name Pansy turned to glare at him "what in Merlin's name is a Gryffindor doing in here?" she yelled and Harry saw Blaise wince.

"Yeah, maybe I should have announced this last night," Blaise mumbled, he was the Slytherin's head boy this year. "Announce what Zabini?" Pansy growled and the Italian boy smiled apologetically "Potter's going to be living in the dungeons for the rest of the year?" he finished as a question when Pansy's face began turning red. "And you didn't think it important to warn us before we had to face his ugly mug!?"

"We all know you don't think he's ugly Parkinson!" Blaise replied angrily, standing chest to chest with the shorter girl who turned even redder, because of anger or embarrassment? Harry didn't know.

"Whatever so he's kinder hot, doesn't mean I wanna have to share a room with a bloody Gryffindot!" Blaise growled "get over it Pansy, he's staying! It's already been agreed!"

Harry looked between the two as they stared angrily at each other and got up, he put his book in his bag, after dog-earing his page, and cleared his throat to gain the attention of the room. The Slytherin's glared at him, everyone except Blaise, and he smiled weakly "please don't argue, I don't want to be a problem."

"Oh, saint Potter. Of course we'll do as you say!" Pansy said sarcastically and bent in a mock bow. Harry looked at her with hurt and surprise in his eyes. "Erm..."

"Why don't you do everyone a favour and go jump in the lake!" Pansy growled and Harry reeled back at the venom in her voice. "DON'T TALK ABOUT MY MATE LIKE THAT!" everyone spun around and stared at a seething Draco Malfoy "don't talk about him like that you blast ended-skrewt!" He growled at a blushing Pansy.

"Your mate?" someone in the crowd asked and Draco's eyes widened, he looked to Harry who shrugged and smiled slightly "but you don't have any creature blood Draco" Blaise stated, his brow furrowed in confusion and then his eyes also widened and he looked at Harry in understanding "but he must have!"

Draco sighed and made his way further into the room so everyone could see him "yes, harry is my mate and yes he is the creature but it's not up to me to tell you what!" Draco looked at Harry with an eyebrow raised and Harry nodded. "Now he's going to tell you but I have a few things to say before he does!"

He looked around at the other Slytherins with hard eyes "no one will harm him in any way once you find out the truth, you will not complain and if I find any one being unpleasant to my mate then you are going to wish you had never even had the thought!" he glared at his classmates one final time before looking to Harry and nodding.

Harry swallowed the sudden lump in his throat and stepped forward "A couple of nights ago I made the mistake of taking a walk on the grounds, as most of you probably know it was a full moon on that night," A couple of the older Slytherin's eyes widened in understanding and they backed away slightly causing confusion in the others around them. Harry smiled kindly at those Slytherin's and then carried on.

"Draco was with me also," a few gasps echoed around the room and Harry ducked his head "a werewolf attacked us and I fought it as my Animagus to give Draco a chance to run but unfortunately I was bitten during the fight. I know most of you aren't going to be comfortable living with me down here but I ask you to please bear with it until I can find other arrangements." Harry looked out at the sea of people and saw a mix of many emotions but his hope grew slightly when he saw sympathy in some of those eyes.

They were all silent for a moment before Blaise looked at his silver pocket watch and announced that they were late. The Slytherin's rushed out the portrait door leaving only Harry, Draco, Blaise and Pansy standing in the common room. Pansy glared at Harry before walking out of the Portrait with her head held high.

Blaise placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and grinned "welcome to the snake's den, Potter." Harry smiled weakly "call me Harry."

"Only if you call me Blaise!" he nodded and all three of them walked to the great hall together. When they entered the hall everyone went quiet except for a few people who murmured quietly but all eyes were on the odd trio. Harry tried to swallow the sudden lump in his throat but only succeeded in coughing, but the sudden sound had the students in the hall turning back to whatever it was they were doing before Harry had walked in.

Harry sat next to Draco; nerves slightly frazzled, and piled his plate with pancakes and then began to drown them in syrup. Draco grimaced at the doughy, sticky mess and put together a fried breakfast for himself. "You sure you're going to eat all of that?" Draco asked and Harry paused in his cutting to stare at Draco who struggled to defend himself "it's just I've noticed you haven't been eating very much lately!" he blushed brightly and stared down, determinately at his breakfast.

"Thank you for noticing" Harry mumbled with a small, sweet smile on his lips "not many people do and yes I will be able to eat it." And with that said Harry began to eat his bite size pieces of syrupy pancakes.

Draco cut his fried egg in half just as a loud screeched alerted him to the arrival of the post, he caught his bundle out of the air and snorted when Harry missed his and it bounced off his head, narrowly missing his sticky food by a few centimetres. Harry blushed and sorted his letters into two piles. One of which was quite tall but he pushed it aside in favour for the two he hand in his hands. "Who are they from?" Draco asked quietly and Harry shrugged "I don't know... fans?" Draco gaped at the pile "you get fan mail?" he asked incredulously. "Why the sound of surprise?" Harry asked cheekily as he tore open the first letter.

His eyes skimmed the letter and once finished he rubbed his hand over his face "what's wrong?" Draco asked as he tried to read the letter. Harry passed him the latter and sighed "Mrs Weasley, apologizing for the way her children acted." Draco sneered but didn't say anything.

"Who's the other one from?" Draco asked and Harry looked at the seal "I'm not sure" he checked it for hexes and when he found none he carefully opened it, half expecting something to jump out and attack him. When nothing did he carefully read the short note and froze.

He sat like that for a moment, completely rigid and his face blank. A wind started to build up in the hall and everyone looked around confused. Even McGonagall was looking slightly worried at the teachers table. The wind got so strong that it almost blew several people off of their seats. Harry stood slowly, the wind seemingly not bothering him, and he walked over to Gryffindor table with the aura of a killer.

When he got to Ron the wind died and everyone went quiet as they realized what had happened. Harry was glowing, it was an eerie sight and out of the corner of his eye Draco saw McGonagall stand, several other Professor's following her lead as they quickly made their way towards Harry before something severe happened.

Harry was standing in front of the smirking Weasley completely stock still. The redhead faltered for a moment, his smile melting away into slight fear.

Ron had seen Harry have one of his episodes and he knew not to cross him when he was angry.

The redhead stood quickly, planning to run before Harry came back but he was too late and Harry's arm shot out and back handed Ron across the face, the resounding crack echoed throughout the hall, sending him slamming onto the Slytherin table. Pansy screamed as the jug full of pumpkin juice was tipped over and its contents were splashed all over her.

Ron scrambled off the table and looked at Harry who apparated right in front of him, Harry kicked his ex-best friend to the floor and glared down at him with glowing wolf eyes. "Is that really what you think of me Ron?

After all this time? After everything we've been through together?" Harry growled as he towered over the other Gryffindor.

Harry straddled the redhead's waist and fisted his hand in his hair and pulled Ron's head up, the Weasley grunted in pain and reached up to claw and pull at the smaller teen's hand. "I might have the money and fame, but I'd trade it for a family like yours any day!"

Harry pulled his fist back and punched Ron square in the face, the crack of his nose breaking echoed around the room and made half the hall flinch. It also shook everyone from the shocked trance they were in and as the punches rained down on Ron his friends tried to pull Harry off of him, with no success.

McGonagall's stunner ricocheted off of Harry's wandless shield and hit a random student in the watching crowd; some of the students giggled but then went silent after a glare from the headmistress. Draco shook himself from his shocked trance and ran towards where Harry and the Weasley were brawling.

Harry was snarling at the prone figure of the red-head; using his claws now instead of his fists. Draco jumped at his Gryffindor lover but was thrown back by an invisible force. "Harry, stop!" he called hoping that, like during care of magical creatures, the sound of his voice would stop him. It didn't.

Draco tried to grab him again and as he got closer he slowed, Harry's magic was thick in the air. It felt like he was wading through a deep swamp. The closer he got to the two Gryffindor's, the harder it got to move.

The noise of the hall became a muted buzz and all Draco could hear was the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Draco grabbed Harry's arms and pulled him back, they both stumbled to the ground and Harry spun to snarl in Draco's face.

The blonde boy could see the wolf in Harry, his eyes were a glowing green and fangs protruded from his lips. His jaw had started to elongate and his ears had started to point.

Draco cradled the raven-haired boy's face in his hands and stared determined into green eyes "calm down, Harry" another growl ripped from the Gryffindor's chest and Draco glared at him. "Don't give me that, Mr big bad wolf, you need to calm down."

Draco pointed down at the motionless figure of the Weasley beside them "you almost killed him Har and you've scared half of Hogwarts to death."

Harry looked down at his ex-best friend and whined, Draco could feel the magic around them fading away and he sighed. "I'm sorry" Harry mumbled and then, for the second time, Draco witnessed his Animagus transformation and then, for the first time ever, Draco witnessed a fleeing Harry potter.

McGonagall quickly quietened every one and soon they were all seated and were eating again. Draco spotted the note Harry had read before his outburst and read it.

_You're a self-satisfying coward that always gets what you damn well want. You get all the glory because you're the boy that wouldn't fucking die! Watch your back you fucking fag!_

Draco glared down at the hate-note and Blaise leaned over to read it also, he scoffed and glared in the direction of the Gryffindor table.

"Better keep that, we'll use it for blackmail material." Draco nodded and pocketed the small slip of paper "now what should we do to get back at them for our little Harry?" Blaise mumbled to himself.

After the war Harry and Blaise had reached a silent agreement and Blaise had even come to like the self-sacrificing Gryffindor especially after he had heard the golden trio discussing Harry's sorting. Well more like the Weasley yelling at Harry for being a 'snake in disguise'.

Blaise had found himself respecting the Gryffindor. He had lost so much yet he kept up a cheerful mask. Oh Blaise could see right through this mask, being a master of the art himself, he could see the anguish and the fury and he sympathized with the green eyed saviour. "Nothing, I think he's gotten what he deserved" Draco mumbled and out of the corner of his eye he saw Blaise pout "but I won't stop you if you if you be subtle about it and don't mention what you're going to do to Harry." He said a signature Slytherin smirk on his face.

The sun was setting, the sky bleeding a brilliant orange. Every single Slytherin was out searching for the elusive Harry Potter.

Draco watched his fellow Slytherin's running, yes running, about Hogwarts grounds. Rustling through bushes and climbing up tree's "keep looking; it's still not safe for Harry!" Blaise yelled and the Slytherins nearest to him nodded and ran off.

Draco stood a few metres from the edge of the forbidden forest, his eyes carefully scanning the shadows for any sign of a panther. "We're going to find him, Drake" Blaise comforted as he draped his arm over the blonde's shoulders. The blonde Slytherin sighed and shrugged off his friends arm "I'm not too sure" he mumbled, still staring determinedly at the forbidden forest.

"You think he's in there?" Blaise asked disbelievingly "would he really be that foolish?" Blaise glanced at the gloomy forest and then back at the blonde who was staring at his fellow Slytherin with one eyebrow raised. "Yeah, you're probably right" he concluded with a nod.

"There's nothing we can do until he decides to come back." Draco murmured dejectedly and with one last longing look at the forest he turned on his heel and trudged back up into the castle.

Harry stood crouched in the shadows under a large bush and watched Draco as his eyes searched the forest. A shiver cascaded down his spine when the silver gaze roamed over his hiding place and when he turned away Harry let out a quiet whimper. Harry had wanted to be found, he had wanted to know what it felt like to know that there were people who still cared enough for him to not give up on him.

He huffed quietly when all the other Slytherin's followed their prince back into the castle and the young Animagus decided to chase some rabbits to pass the time, he didn't want to go back just yet because he knew that when he got back Draco would be there to scold him.

After his rabbit chasing episode he collapsed in a heap next to a small bubbling stream. As he relaxed he listened to the beautiful sounds of unicorn song.

Their singing was so calming that he soon found his eyelids too heavy to keep open and after a quick debate he decided he had been away long enough and as he slunk back up to the castle he hoped that all the Slytherin's were asleep.

The exiled Gryffindor skidded to a stop at the portrait leading to the Slytherin dormitories and gazed up at the large snake in the frame. Harry sat in front of it and opened his jaws in a cat-smile.

_/Hello again Harry Potter/. _The snake hissed and the Animagus snorted, sitting on his haunches and tilting his head curiously _/good evening snake friend/ _the panther hissed and Harry was pleasantly surprised; he had never tried speaking Parseltongue whilst in his Animagus.

The snake nodded once and then shifted his coils. _/Password?/ _Harry snorted and stood again _/loyalty/ _he murmured and crawled through the portal once the portrait had moved.

He crept through the common room, his paws making no noise and bounded up the stairs to the boys dormitory. The door to his and Draco's room was ajar and he squeezed through the crack. He looked towards Draco's bed to find it occupied by the sleeping blonde.

He jumped onto his bed and began arranging his blankets into a nest of sorts "Lumos" Harry spun at the mumbled words and then clamped his eyes shut as he was blinded by light "sorry" was murmured and Harry opened his eyes again to see an angry looking Draco Malfoy sitting up in his bed. "Where were you?" Draco asked only cringing slightly when he realized he sounded like an angry housewife scolded her husband for being late.

Harry leapt onto his Mates bed and began gently rubbing his head under Draco's chin, huffing comfortingly. Draco's resolve shattered and he reached up to scratch between the panther's ears. "Not gunna change back?" The Slytherin asked and Harry's ears flattened against his skull. "I'll take that as a no?"

Harry slumped heavily into his Mates lap, purring loudly. "You big kitten" Draco teased before bending at the waist and burying his face in the fur on Harry's neck. He sighed and then flopped back onto his bed and cancelling his Lumos. "Good night Harry" he mumbled sleepily, his hand still massaging small circles into the spot behind the Panther's ear.

Harry huffed a goodnight back and closed his eyes as his mates hand slowed and eventually stopped in its massaging.

TBC.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

Harry bounded up the stairs behind Draco and caught the attention of every Slytherin in the common room. "That is one gorgeous animal!" Blaise exclaimed and soon Harry was mobbed by the excited Slytherin's that wanted to touch his silky fur.

Harry felt very uncomfortable in the crowd and tried many times to escape only succeeding when Draco's strict voice stated that they were going to be late.

When Harry entered the great hall he was still a panther and the Slytherin's were still trying to pet him. He escaped by ducking under the table and sitting at Draco's feet, resting his chin on the Slytherin's skinny knee's. Draco glanced down at his mate and then his eyes swept over the hall, he noticed the stares and whispers and looked back down at Harry. "Try to ignore them love" Draco murmured as he lovingly scratched behind a velvet ear.

"Why do you have a Panther under the table Mr. Malfoy?" Draco turned his head slightly to look at a very confused Slughorn. The ditsy man had also been appointed the new head of Slytherin. Draco glared up at the man who had replaced his godfather, he had never liked him, he lifted his chin in a defying manner and sneered "I don't see how that is any business of yours, _Professor._"

Slughorn smiled knowingly and rested his hand on Draco's shoulder who refrained from shrugging it off only because Harry gave a quiet warning growl. "Now Mr. Malfoy, I know you do not like me and I have no clue as to what I may have done for you to dislike me but I am afraid that a panther is not on the list of acceptable familiars."

Draco was about to deliver a malevolent reply that would surely have had Salazar Slytherin himself turning in his grave but fortunately for Slughorn, McGonagall stepped in with a stern look at the young Malfoy. "Thank you Horace you may go back to your breakfast now." She said as she forcefully turned the round man back towards the head table "Of course Minerva" he said jovially as he patted his protruding belly with a dreamy smile on his face.

Harry huffed a breath of relief and a deep rumble started in his chest when Draco began absently stroking behind his ears. McGonagall turned back to Draco with a frown on her face but her eyes were amused "I assume that this is Potter?" she asked quietly as to not draw any unwanted attention; Draco nodded and smiled down at the green-eyed panther. "Well I shall allow it this once but he must be _'himself'_ for his classes" she stressed the word 'himself' with a stern glare and then turned back to head back to her seat but paused and faced the two boys again, well boy and panther, and with a grim expression she looked at harry underneath the table "and I'm sorry Potter but you have detention at lunch with Professor Slughorn."

"What for?" Draco asked, fuming; he didn't see what Harry had done to deserve detention. "For causing a disruption during lunch Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Weasley has had another week of detentions added to his already existing list. I'm afraid I can't give any favouritism." And then she left for good, to eat the rest of her breakfast no doubt.

Draco sighed and stabbed at his bacon angrily. Harry whined at him under the table and Draco smiled down at him sadly "I'm sorry love" Harry shook his head and gently took the piece of bacon the Slytherin offered him. They were both quiet as they ate the rest of their breakfast and when they had finished they headed into an empty classroom so that Harry could revert back from his Animagus before class. Draco watched the unusual transformation with great interest and then smiled at his mate when he stood in front of him. "You ready?" he asked as he tried to flatten some of the Gryffindor's uncooperative hair "not really" Harry said sullenly, pouting slightly. Draco thought it made him look very sexy and let his mate know by pulling him into his chest and kissed him soundly. He ravished the dark haired boys willing mouth with keen determination and then he pulled away despite Harry's quiet moan of protest and ran his hand through his silver locks.

"Let's get to class, don't want to be late!" he said cheekily and smirked at the crest fallen look on his mates face "don't worry love," he started as he stroked the boys cheek lovingly with the back of his hand "that was just a taster; I plan to continue tonight after supper."

Harry literally dragged Draco from the classroom then, eager to get the days classes over with, but he collided with something solid after opening the door and Draco growled when he saw what it was that his mate had crashed into; Weasley's chest. The red head still hand some bruises and cuts from their earlier scrap and he seemed to favour his right arm.

Weasley sneered down at Harry, a thought about Harry's height passed through Draco's head but he pushed it aside and placed his hands on Harry's shoulders in a silent plea for Harry to stay calm.

"Fucking disgusting" the red-head snarled and Draco glared, he felt Harry's shoulders shaking under his hands and he squeezed reassuringly. "What do you want, Ron?" Harry asked tensely, he noticed that Dean and Seamus were backing up his former friend and his mood plummeted again.

Ron chuckled and folded his arms across his chest "oh, nothing really, just payback for what you did to me" Draco thought he saw a faint blush on the red-heads cheeks but couldn't be sure because of the amount of freckles that littered his skin.

"Revenge?" Harry asked flatly "you're turning out to be more of a death-eater than Draco was **supposed** to be" he stressed the word 'supposed' like he knew it wasn't really true and it made Draco want to grin like a goof. But he made sure to keep his features schooled into the signature Malfoy scowl.

Ron growled before he launched a punch at Harry, his fist connecting with Harry's stomach. Harry let out a pained 'oof' and fought to bring the air back into his lungs whilst Ron laughed with his Gryffindor goons.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Draco snarled as he shielded the gasping Harry behind him. "Get out of the way you slimy snake, this is between me and him!" Ron tried to push past Draco but stopped short when he found a wand pointed at his throat. "I don't think so Weasel" Draco said calmly, glaring fiercely at the red-head. "What are you going to do?" Ron taunted but Draco cold see a flicker of fear in his blue eyes.

Draco's silver eyes stared into the Gryffindor's trying to convey with a look alone the torture he had in store for him if he didn't back off.

Ron took an uncertain step back and then scoffed before turning on his heel and fleeing down the empty corridor his Gryffindor goons following after one last pathetic glare at Draco.

"Draco?" a tentative voice asked from behind him and Draco turned to smile at Harry "are you ok?" Harry asked and Draco grinned. "Am I ok? What about you?" Harry shrugged and scuffed his worn-out trainer on the stone floor ""I'm alright."

Draco held Harry's face in his hands tenderly and looked him directly in the eyes "are you sure?" he asked gently and Harry nodded "we're going to be late for class" Harry mumbled, a pink blush spreading across his cheeks. "Let's go then" Draco said before quickly kissing Harry's nose and then grasped his mates hand and pulled him from the room completely.

They were a few minutes late for transfiguration and McGonagall gave them a stern look as they took their seats "and why, must I ask, are you late?" she asked and Harry ducked his head. He really didn't like the disappointed look McGonagall was giving him "we're sorry Professor," Draco said, glancing over to the Gryffindor's, Ron Weasley in particular, and then turned to Professor McGonagall "but we ran into a little problem on the way."

McGonagall saw his pointed look and frowned at her Gryffindor's. "I understand," and she began the class.

"Today we will be learning the Draconifors spell, for those of you who don't know; the Draconifors turns statues of dragons into real, fire-breathing dragons." A murmur of excitement spread through the class. "I a moment I will place a small dragon statue on your desk, the first one to succeed in turning it will get to leave class early" Harry glanced at Draco and smiled, he had been able to practice the spell in his free time and was confident he could do it. Draco gave Harry the same smile although his was more of a sly Slytherin smirk.

"You will be working in pairs so take it in turns and please be sensible I do not want my classroom catching fire, the hand-movement is quite simple you simple slash your wand at the statue, like so" she demonstrated the gesture and like she said it was very simple. There were a few chuckles and when McGonagall waved her wand tiny little statues of dragon appeared on each desk. The dragons were so small that Harry could clench his fist around it.

"You go first" Draco said to Harry and then he lent back to watch the rest of the class. Harry slashed his wand at the statue, his wand gave out a little spark of red light but nothing happened he frowned and tried again. The spark was bigger but still had no effect on the statue. He tried to remember what it had said in the book he had read but could not.

He huffed and nudged Draco gently "your turn" he said sullenly and Draco smiled reassuringly at him. Harry was sure that this would have been such an easy spell to master. He had read so many transfiguration books during his spare time in the Slytherin common room. "This is bloody difficult" he heard Draco huff and his mood lifted knowing that he wasn't the only one having problems.

"Gah! You try again" Draco huffed as he sat back in his chair. Harry focused all of his attention on the dragon; he felt for his magic core and trembled pleasantly when it travelled down to his wand hand. He made the slashing motion at the statue and watched, wide eyed, as a ball of fire enveloped it.

The fire disappeared to reveal a small welsh green dragon, immediately the little dragon shot fire into the air and let out a little squeaky roar that made Harry smile. "Well done Mr. Potter!" McGonagall cheered when she noticed the little puff of smoke. "Ten points to er... Gryffindor" she said after a moment of confusion, Harry was sitting on the Slytherin side of the room. As far away from the Gryffindor's as he possibly could get.

"Well i hope you use your free time wisely" she gave him a slight smile and then shooed him away "you have another ten minutes and whoever hasn't mastered this very simple spell will stay behind for private tutoring!" she looked at Ron and gave a very Slytherin smirk. No one picked on her Gryffindor's, even if the bully was a Gryffindor themselves.

Harry wandered about the corridors aimlessly until he decided to head to the library. He read some books about werewolves, discovering some interesting facts, until lunch.

He met Draco outside the Great hall. He was grinning like a loon and it made Harry fell uneasy "what have you done?" he asked before they entered the great hall "me?" Draco asked innocently "i haven't done anything" he had a sly smirk on his face and Harry frowned "then why are you smiling?" He got no answer and as they entered the great hall everyone was giggling and pointing over to the Gryffindor table.

Harry had to cover his mouth when he saw what everyone else was looking at, he leant on Draco's shoulder and his shoulders shook as he laughed. He sat in his seat at the Slytherin table and looked at Ron again; he was sitting sullenly, glowering at the Slytherin table, wearing an outfit that looked suspiciously like what the toad Dolores Umbridge wore when she 'taught' at Hogwarts. He had a pink headband on his head, a fluffy pink cardigan over a matching dress and even had on some pink heels.

"I thought you said you didn't do anything?" Harry said breathlessly, still leaning heavily on, a chuckling, Draco's shoulder. "I didn't, this was all Blaise."

"It's spelled to stay like that until I decide he's suffered enough" Blaise cut in as he calmly cut into his omelette. "And don't even think that begging while make me change my mind" Harry filled a goblet with pumpkin juice and took a small sip "the thought hadn't even crossed my mind" he murmured over the lip of the cup, a contented smile on his face."Thank you" he said quietly and received a squeeze of his shoulder.

"Mr. Potter?" Harry turned to smile at the Headmistress "I hope you haven't forgotten about your detention?" He jumped up , almost tripping over the bench in his haste "no Professor i was just going now" he snatched a roll from the table and took ran out of the hall, leaving a chuckling McGonagall behind.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

Harry was breathless by the time he got to the potions classroom and he apologized to a smiling Slughorn as he stood in front of his desk. "No worries my boy," Slughorn stood from behind his desk and led Harry to the store cupboard "my last class was a hectic one; none of the first years have a clue as to what they're doing." He sighed and motioned towards the cupboard which was a total mess; Ingredients were all over the place "as you can see, they didn't clear up after them."

Harry had an idea as to what his detention was going to be and, checking his glamour's were in place, rolled up his sleeves "I'll get to work then shall I, Professor?"

Slughorn clapped his hands together and smiled widely "yes, please Mr. Potter. I'll leave you to it" He went and sat behind his desk again and began grading test papers. Harry watched him scribbled a large red 'D' on the bottom of the paper and Harry winced before he started rearranging the ingredients.

It took him at least forty minutes to sort through the ingredients and put them back into their proper place. "I've finished sir" Harry said as he brushed any dirt or dust from his clothes. "Good good, off you go then."

Harry jogged back to the great hall in time to see Draco. "How was your detention?" The Slytherin asked teasingly and Harry glared at him "I have ancient runes now, what about you?" Draco asked and Harry reached into his robe pocket, searching for his class timetable. He pulled the scrunched up piece of paper out with a triumphant smile. He unwrinkled the paper and quickly read through to find out "free period" he said and stuffed the paper back into his pocket.

Draco nodded, secretly relieved that he wouldn't be in a class, alone, with the other Gryffindor's. Harry's stomach rumbled loudly, earning a laugh from the Slytherin. Harry blushed crimson and mumbled "I might go down to the kitchens."

"Good idea" the Slytherin laughed and ruffled Harry's unruly hair before leaving for ancient runes.

The elves were as excited as ever when Harry entered the kitchen. Harry asked for something hot to eat and was presented with a chicken pasty. He ignored the knife and fork that were sat on a napkin to the side of his plate and picked the pasty up with his hands; he took a large bite of the pasty and instantly let out a satisfied moan.

He finished the pasty in four and a half bites and as he popped the last of the pasty into his mouth a little elf placed a goblet of pumpkin juice in front of him, replacing it with the, now empty, plate.

He gulped down the sweet juice, thanked the elves and left the hot kitchen. He cast a tempus and realised that he still had another thirty minutes until his next class. He went up to his dorm and decided to make a start on his Herbology homework; a page and a half on how to properly care for Mandrake.

Draco rushed into the room just as he finished the first page "Harry? What are you doing here?" he asked as he opened his truck and began searching through it. "Doing homework, you?" Harry mumbled distractedly.

"I was getting my defence book; you do know that your free period is over now, right?" Harry cast a tempus and barely glanced at it before he was up and rushing about, he grabbed his charms book and then dashed past Draco "see you at dinner" he yelled over his shoulder as he rushed out of the room.

Charms was an easy lesson, Professor Flitwick taught them the 'point me' charm and then had them read from their textbooks for the last ten minutes.

Harry got to the great hall before Draco so he sat in his usual place and served himself a small bowl of soup as he waited for the blonde to turn up. When Blaise turned up without him Harry began to worry. "Where's Draco?" He asked the dark-skinned boy after he had sat down and poured himself a drink. "In the hospital wing" Blaise growled "some bloody Gryffindor's cornered him when he was alone and threw a few spells at him." He glared over at the Gryffindor table and took a sip of his tea.

"What?" Harry almost yelled, he stood only to have Blaise tug him back down "don't bother, he's still unconscious" Harry could feel something trying to force its way out of his chest and when he looked down at his hands he saw the familiar black claws that seemed to appear whenever he was angry. "You don't seem too concerned about your friend" he growled and Blaise, noticing Harry's claws, smiled calmly "I am very angry about what those Gryffindork's did to my friend Harry but a Slytherin is sly and never shows emotion. It's something we're all taught young."

Harry sighed and thumped his head down onto the table making Blaise wince at the loud noise. "I'm sorry" he mumbled and Blaise patted him on his back as he drank his tea.

After dinner Blaise and Harry rushed to the Hospital wing. Draco was still unconscious and Harry gasped when he saw him, he had a black eye and a cut underneath the other. His left arm was in a cast and his right hand was bandaged. "I thought you said they used spells?" Harry asked as he slumped onto the side of the bed, staring down at his mate with wide eyes.

Blaise remained quiet, unable to talk through the anger that was bubbling up inside of him. "Oh Draco, what have they done to you?" Harry murmured as he brushed a lock of blonde hair off of his forehead. "I'll fucking kill them!" Harry snarled as he clenched the bed sheet in his hands.

"You will do no such thing Mr. Potter!" The shrill voice of Madame Pomfrey scolded from behind them. Harry turned his tear-filled eyes to the Medi-witch and her angry expression melted into one of sympathy. "I can understand your anger Harry but let the Headmistress punish the ones who did this. We don't need you getting expelled because of this."

Harry's shoulders slumped and he nodded his head "who was it?" he asked quietly and Blaise shrugged his shoulders "not sure, I found him like this outside the dungeons." Pomfrey came forward and rested her hand on Harry's shoulder "we will not know until Mr. Malfoy wakes."

Pomfrey let Blaise and Harry stay until Draco woke and it wasn't another hour until he did.

Draco moaned painfully as his eyelids fluttered open weakly and he looked around before they scrunched closed again "bloody hell" he muttered. "Draco? Are you ok?" Harry asked as he sat himself on the bed beside the blonde. "Fantastic" he growled and then sighed.

His eyes opened again and looked straight at Harry "are you ok?" Draco asked and Harry smiled as he stroked the Slytherin's blonde hair "am I ok? Draco you're the one in the bed" Draco chuckled weakly and winced when his arm was jostled. "Fucking Gryffindor's."

"Language, Mr. Malfoy!" Pomfrey warned as she entered the wing from her office. She handed him a pain potion and ordered him to drink it "urg, how foul" he moaned and the Medi-witch chuckled. "I've mended your arm but you will still have a bit of pain for a day or two and I'm afraid everything else will have to heal on its own. I haven't the potions, unfortunately; Horace is terrible at brewing them."

Draco nodded and Pomfrey left after telling him he could leave. Harry had to help him pull his robes on after it became obvious that moving his arm caused him a lot of pain and Harry felt that same feeling in his chest when he saw his mate wince.

He had the faint thought that it was his wolf feeling guilty for not being able to protect his mate and he ducked his head in shame. He avoided both Draco's and Blaise's eyes as they all walked back to the Slytherin dorms. Blaise looked over the ducked Gryffindor's head to look at Draco in question who shrugged. He had no idea why Harry was acting like he was, but he planned to find out.

As soon as they were alone in their dorm Draco pounced. He stood behind Harry, who was standing by his bed, and wrapped his arms around the raven-haired boy's waist. He felt Harry stiffen and sighed "what's wrong this time?" he asked and Harry remained silent.

"Don't ignore me Harry" Draco murmured, turning his face into Harry's hair and breathing in the boy's spicy scent. "M'not ignoring you" Harry mumbled back, now fidgeting in Draco's embrace. "Then why won't you tell me what's wrong?"

Silence met his question again and he growled irritably before shoving Harry onto the bed. Harry landed with a surprised gasp and rolled onto his back to glare at Draco but his eyes widened when the Slytherin straddled his waist. "Talk to me Harry, I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong."

Draco saw Harry close off, his eyes glazed over and his head turned away, Draco panicked. He had seen Harry do this to the Granger girl once; Harry hadn't spoken to her for almost a week.

"Harry please" Draco begged, his voice breaking with the threat of tears. Harry did look at him then but his eyes were still glazed "what's wrong? Please tell me!" he yelled the last three words. Harry's eyes became clear and then they filled with tears that spilled over and ran down towards his ears. "You got hurt," he whispered and reached a hand up to gently run a finger across the cut under his eye "I'll heal" Draco said gently, glad that Harry was talking to him. "I couldn't protect you" Harry said miserably, new tears welling up in his eyes.

"Sssh Kitten, this wasn't your fault. You didn't know this was going to happen." Draco soothed as he wiped away the tears, seeing Harry break like this hurt his heart.

"I should have been there! This shouldn't have happened" Harry wept and Draco laid his head on his shoulder "please don't beat yourself up about this Harry it wasn't your fault, it was the Gryffindor's!"

"I'll kill them" He hissed and Draco sat up "No! You won't go near them, promise me Harry! Promise you won't." Harry started to push Draco off of him "I'll fucking kill them!" he yelled and Draco struggled to keep Harry pinned to the bed "Harry calm down!" The Slytherin said a little breathlessly.

"I don't want you getting into trouble because of them!" he Pinned Harry's arms under his legs and gently held his face so that Harry would look at him. "Stay here with me?" he pleaded desperately and Harry paused in his struggling to look at the tear-filled silver eyes of his mate.

"You're crying?" He asked and tried to raise an arm to wipe away the tears that were slowly trailing down pale cheeks. Draco released his arms but kept a hold of his face "promise me Harry, that you won't go near them." Harry bit his lip and then nodded "I promise Dragon."

Draco sighed and then lowered his head to kiss his mate gently. He moved to lean between Harry's legs as Harry's arms wrapped around his shoulders, one hand grasped a handful of silver hair and Draco moaned quietly when it pulled slightly. Draco moved one of his hands to roam underneath Harry's shirt and when he found a nipple he began to tug and pinch it gently. Harry gasped and arched his back to get closer to the hand and Draco trailed kisses down the tan skin on Harry's neck.

"Dracooo..." Harry moaned when the Slytherin gently bit into his neck and then licked the wound soothingly. "Want you naked" he panted as he ground his clothed erection against Harry's. They both moaned at the delicious friction and then Harry hurried to take his shirt off but Draco stopped his hands "I want to do it" Harry chuckled and let the Slytherin take off his t-shirt.

Once the interfering piece of clothing was removed Draco attacked Harry's erect nipples with his mouth, sucking and biting one while his hand flicked and pinched the other. Harry was quivering and moaning as he buried his hands in the Slytherin's blonde hair.

Harry was nervous but his arousal over-powered it and he tugged at the Slytherin's shirt, wanting it off so he could feel the blonde's skin on his. Draco worked out the silent message and shrugged it off. Harry licked his lips as he stared at the expanse of pale skin. He wanted to taste him, he sat up and licked a line from his navel to his neck were he began to lick, suck and bite at the soft skin he found there.

Draco pushed Harry back onto the bed but left his mouth were it was and trailed his hand down his Kitten's chest, he pinched one of Harry's nipples hard earning a surprised gasp from the raven-haired boy and then his hand continued its path downwards until he came to Harry's trouser line.

He played with the trail of hair he found there before undoing the offending things and pulling them down the muscular legs of his mate.

Harry laid there anxiously in his Slytherin green boxers as Draco stared at him hungrily; his silver eyes ablaze with lust. Harry gathered some of his legendary Gryffindor courage and tugged gently on Draco's black khaki trousers "you're overdressed Dragon" he panted and smiled triumphantly when Draco growled and literally tore off his trousers. Harry was surprised to see Gryffindor red, silk boxers but before he could tease about them Draco crushed their lips together for a heated kiss.

Their tongues fought for dominance and Harry submitted with a moan. Draco's hand began rubbing him through his boxers and Harry panted open-mouthed as he clawed at Draco's back, the Slytherin moaned at the pleasure-pain and ripped Harry's boxers in his haste to take them off "they were my favourite pair" Harry pouted as he watched Draco drop them on the floor.

"I'll get you another pair" Draco said distractedly as he took off his own boxers. Harry got a glimpse of pale perfection before Draco was leaning over Harry and rubbing their dicks together. "Ah. Draco!" Harry whimpered and reached between them to rub both of their dicks. Draco let out a deep moan that sent shivers up and down Harry's spine.

He felt tentative fingers probing at his asshole and stiffened, Draco noticed and murmured "never used this?" Harry stayed frozen, his scared green eyes staring into teasing grey. Draco noticed his mates fear and pulled back "Harry? What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, his hands reaching out to touch but only hovering over Harry's still form.

"I'm fine" Harry mumbled distractedly as he tried to push the image of a smirking Voldemort out of his mind. His red eyes seemed to hold Harry in place.

Draco frowned down at Harry's shivering form and sighed "you're not _fine_. What's wrong Kitten?" Harry closed his eyes and let out a deep breath "it's nothing" he said after opening his eyes again. Draco huffed angrily and leant back against the footboard of the bed. "Harry, you need to know that you can tell me anything and, whatever it is, I won't think of you any differently." Harry stared at Draco in thought for a moment before he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Draco, but I can't tell you yet" the blonde smiled and ruffled Harry's dark hair affectionately "whenever you're ready." And then he pressed a gentle kiss to Harry's lips.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

They were late for breakfast the next morning and they rushed to get ready. Every time Draco caught Harry's eyes the raven-haired boy blushed and averted his eyes.

"What have you got this morning?" Draco asked as he ran a comb through his hair. "Defense against the dark arts" Harry mumbled as he tied his tie. "Well I've got charms."

He turned back to his mirror and suddenly Harry appeared behind him, a pitiful look on his face "please be careful?" He said as he wrapped his arms around the Slytherin's waist and rested his chin on the blonde's shoulder "I don't know what I'd do if something else happened to you."

"I'll try my best" Draco said truthfully as he looked into Harry's eyes in the mirror. Harry pressed a lingering, open-mouthed kiss to his neck. "Why don't you get going? I still have some stuff to do, no point us both being late." Harry nodded and kissed his mates neck again before grabbing his bag from his bed and rushing out of the room.

He stopped outside the great hall when familiar looking bushy, brown hair came into view. He turned to leave but stopped when Hermione called out to him. "Harry, I'm sorry about what's happened." Harry kept his back turned to her, refusing to look at his ex-friend.

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder and shrugged it off "look at me Harry" her voice sounded like she was on the verge of tears so he turned but didn't meet her eyes, he was always weak to her tears, but instead he stared determinedly down at the stone floor.

"I do not agree to what the others have done to you" she mumbled and Harry looked at her with anger ablaze in his eyes. "Maybe, but you did nothing to stop them, so why should I believe you?" He shoved past her, hard enough to jostle her but not to hurt her, after all she was one of his first friends in Hogwarts; one of the first to like him for who he was and not because of his money or fame.

She grabbed his arm before he could get too far away and begged him to listen to her, he stopped trying to struggle from her surprisingly strong grip and glared at her "what could you possibly want from me?" He spat and felt guilt constricting his heart when he saw the fat tears trailing down her red, blotchy cheeks. "I'm sorry, Harry" She sobbed and Harry tensed, he knew that tone of voice It was the one she used to use on him and Ron when she had told the teacher one of their pranks and then regretted it when they got detention.

"What did you do?" he asked quietly and Hermione burst into more tears "I'm so sorry, but I had to you were breaking the law, I'm sorry!"

"What the fuck did you do?" he yelled, she flinched but he didn't care, he was too angry to care. "I told the Ministry about your Animagus" she blubbered and Harry felt himself stepping forward before he knew what he was doing. "You did what? Why the fuck would you do that? I thought we were friends. And how in Merlin's name did you even know?" he was yelling, he knew but he couldn't stop, he was just so angry.

"I'm sorry Harry, you were breaking the law. I couldn't let you do that!" she yelled back, tears still streaming down her face. "You couldn't let me? Who the hell do you think you are? You can't control me!"

"I'm not trying to control you I was just trying to help!" They were attracting a crowd now and Harry spotted Blaise and Draco pushing to the front. "Well a lot of help you were, thanks a fucking bunch for giving the Ministry a reason for adding me to the list of possible dark lords!" He heard the crowd surrounding them gasp and he frowned _'great that's gunna be in the prophet tomorrow.'_

Hermione sobbed, her hands covering her mouth as what he said sank in "oh my god, I'm sorry Harry!" she sobbed and Harry backed up a step "It's too late to apologize Granger" he growled and then turned away from the sobbing girl.

He entered the great hall and spotted McGonagall descending the steps of the Professor's table. "Headmistress" he called as he approached and she looked up at him "yes, Mr. Potter" she asked; confusion obvious on her face. "I demand a re-sorting!" He heard the students behind him gasp; saw the disappointment on McGonagall's face but he didn't care.

He was fed up of nothing going his way. He was going to take control of his life and he didn't give a damn about what anyone else thought. "Very well Mr. Potter, Mr. Filch would you please fetch the sorting hat."

Harry sat on the stool that was summoned and waited patiently for filch to come back with the sorting hat. He ignored the stares and focused his attention of the huge doors of the great hall.

Filch dumped the hat onto Harry's head when he returned with the grumbled complaint of 'bloody students' and then he left with his cat, Mrs. Norris, following loyally.

'_Ah Harry Potter, I was wondering when you'd need me again." _The sorting hat smirked. _"I demanded a re-sorting, put me in the house I belong" _Harry grumbled and received a chuckle _"finally realized then, eh Mr. Potter?"_

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat called out and everyone in the hall began murmuring amongst themselves some from Gryffindor yelling out 'bloody traitor!'

"That is enough!" McGonagall called out as she took the hat from Harry. She waved her wand over him and his Gryffindor tie changed from red and gold to silver and green, the emblem on his robes melted into the Slytherin snake and he sauntered over to the Slytherin table, taking his seat next to a grinning Draco.

"Carry on with your breakfast" McGonagall said sadly as she returned to the Professor's table, placing the sorting hat beside her plate. The hall quietened but if you listened hard enough you could still hear the mumbling of the gossipers as they discussed what had just happened.

The Slytherin's were silently celebrating Harry's re-sorting into their house all of them except for one of course, who was glaring at the raven-haired boy. Pansy Parkinson hated The-Boy-Who-Lived, Hated his very existence, and hated how her plan had failed. She glanced over to the Gryffindor's table and growled.

"Did you find out why Harry was acting weird?" Blaise mumbled to Draco who shrugged "It was a werewolf thing." Blaise nodded and then returned his attention to his breakfast.

Harry found out that McGonagall hadn't come across anyone to take the position of DADA Professor this year and instead they read from their textbooks as a Hufflepuff prefect watched over them. He sorely hoped that they had a Professor for their next lesson.

After DADA he had charms and he was told to read from his textbook in that lesson as well whilst the rest of the students practiced the 'point me' charm, he was the only one to have managed it last lesson.

During his break he met with Draco and Blaise out in the court yard, they had had a free period whilst Harry was suffering in charms. He asked Draco to help him with his Herbology homework and he got the last half a page done quickly with his help. "So," Blaise began as he stretched his longs legs out in front of him.

They were sitting underneath the tree that Draco had hung around when Mad-eye had turned him into a ferret. "We haven't got back at those Gryffindor's for what they did to Draco?"

"Blaise, don't. It's not worth it" Blaise ignored his blonde friend and turned to Harry "What do you think we should do?" Harry heard Draco sigh and smiled "erm, well George has some untested products for the shop." He rubbed his chin as he thought "we could send him an owl and ask for some?"

"Would he be ok with pranking his brother?" Blaise asked and Harry laughed "oh don't worry; he does it all the time. Ron told me that he turned his teddy bear into a spider once." They all laughed and then Blaise said "Wait, the Weasley still has a teddy bear?" and so for the rest of their break they talked about Ron and his embarrassing habits.

They made their way to potions and Harry was slightly anxious to be in an enclosed room with the Gryffindor's "calm down Harry, it's going to be fine" he heard Draco mumble and he let out a huff of breath. He paused at the potions classroom door, straightened his immaculate robes and breathed deeply to steel himself before he pushed open the door and walked in with his head held high and a look of indifference on his face.

He sat in his seat next to Draco, Blaise sat at the desk behind them with a Slytherin Harry didn't know, and focused his attention on the board that had what they were brewing on it; healing Potions, for Madame Pomfrey no doubt.

"Very well done" he heard Draco whisper and smiled before remembering that Slytherin's didn't show emotion around the other houses and schooled his features back into a look of indifference.

Harry and Draco were tasked with brewing an anti-paralysis potion and Draco stood to get the ingredients with a mumbled 'too easy.'

They finished with time to spare and as Draco bottled up the purple potion Harry quickly scribbled out a note to George asking about the new products. He would visit Wynne in the Owlery tower later. Slughorn told them they could leave after they cleared up their work station and as Harry carried the small cauldron toward the sink he tripped over a purposely placed leg.

His face smashed into the stone cauldron with a sickening crack and he felt the blood trickling down his chin as he sat up, he gently prodded at his nose and winced when a sharp pain shot through his skull. "Shit" he murmured but even that hurt. "Harry! You fucking piece of shit!" Harry heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh and turned his head to see Blaise holding an angry Draco back and a Gryffindor on the floor holding his nose which was also bleeding.

"Now now Mr. Malfoy, take Mr. Potter to the infirmary, I'll sort him out" Slughorn said and when Harry glanced at the potions Professor he was surprised to see the look of fury on his face. "Come on Harry" Draco murmured as he gently helped him off of the floor.

"Fucking Bastard" Draco spat viciously when they were walking through the empty corridors. "M'fine Dragon" Harry winced when another jab of pain shot through his skull. "No Harry, you are not 'fine.' This has gone too far!"

Pomfrey was treating another student when they got there and Harry was pleased to see it was Neville and not another Gryffindor who would, most likely, want to curse him. "Bloody Merlin's pants what happened to you Harry?" Neville exclaimed loudly when he saw the pair walk in, he got a smack over the head for his language and he blushed before apologizing.

Pomfrey hadn't seen them yet and when she turned she shrieked loudly "Merlin's Beard Mr. Potter, what happened?" she asked as she ushered Harry over to the bed next to Neville's. "Tripped and hit my face on a cauldron." He mumbled humiliated. "No Harry, you didn't trip, you were tripped by a Gryffindor." Pomfrey sighed and pried Harry's hands away from his face "you kids and your disputes."

She Accio'd a vial of pain reliever and told Harry to drink it before she pointed her wand at Harry's nose and it snapped back into position with a sickening crack. Harry winced and his eyes began watering, he went to wipe the blood from his face with his sleeve but Draco stopped him "That's disgusting, don't do that!"

Pomfrey chuckled and vanished the blood with a wave of her wand "I trust you'll try and stay out of trouble from now on? I don't want to see you back here for a while."

Harry agreed whole-heartedly and left with Draco after saying a quick good-bye to Neville. They ran into Blaise on their way back, he had their bags. "So? You alright?" Harry nodded and then waved the note for George in front of their faces "I just need to make a quick trip to the Owlery" The three Slytherin's smirked wickedly, scaring any students that walked by them.

Draco and Blaise insisted on coming with Harry to the Owlery and he agreed with a sigh. Harry sat and talked with Wynne for a moment before he attached the note to her leg and asked her to take it to George and wait for a reply. Wynne nipped his finger affectionately and took off from the window ledge she was perched on.

"I wish Felix was that nice to me" Blaise Grumbled "the bloody thing bites me whenever I come near him." Harry chuckled and then they went to lunch, Harry ignored all the pointed looks and the whispers. His attention focused solely on his food, Blaise and Draco.

**TBC.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight.

The next few days went by in a blur. Harry was getting better at his classes, especially potions, thanks to Blaise and Draco's help.

The rest of the Slytherin's were slowing getting used to him, talking to him every so often, albeit shyly, and he had returned their acceptance by helping some of the younger snakes with their school work.

Harry learnt that the Slytherin's were like a family, they didn't go anywhere on their own, always in groups of three or more, and helped each other when ever help was needed. One of the first years had come to Draco and Blaise; they were the equivalent of the Slytherin guardians, now that Snape wasn't there, to confess that he was being bullied by the Gryffindor's. Draco had smiled kindly and sorted out two older Slytherin's to escort him around school until the bullying stopped, which 'it wouldn't' Draco told him when they were alone again.

A week later he received George's reply. He was reading a new book, which he had got as a welcome gift from a small first year, when Wynne flew in from the open window. She landed on the headboard on Harry's bed and screeched to attract his attention. He smiled widely when he saw her and the grin widened even further when he read George's reply. "I have to tell Draco." He mumbled before jumping off of his bed.

He found his mate in the library doing his Arithmancy homework. He immediately sat in the chair next to him and shoved the letter under the Blonde's nose. Draco gave him an annoyed look but obediently read the letter, "well, this is good. He's already sent it to the Weasel." Draco smiled and glanced up at Harry with mischief in his eyes, a rare sight to see on the blonde Slytherin, Harry immediately felt uneasy.

"That gives me more time to take you out." the blonde mumbled and then stood, simultaneously pulling Harry out of his chair. "Let's go" Draco then dragged his, not so enthusiastic, boyfriend out of the library.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked dumbly as he begrudgingly let his mate drag him out of the library and down the hall. He heard his mate chuckle quietly. "Hogsmeade of course you silly sod."

When they got to Hogsmeade Draco pulled Harry into the first clothes shop they spotted and immediately set about finding multiple outfits to try on. Harry was obedient and tried on everything he was given and even added a few items of his own choice to the steadily growing pile. Draco had eagerly added a pair of tight leather trousers that Harry had been looking at to the pile and had even gotten himself a pair.

Once they had finished Harry found himself with twelve shrunken bags of clothes in his pockets. "I could have paid for my clothes, Draco. And anyway this is way too much for me." Harry mumbled as he fiddled with the tiny bags in his pocket. He heard his mate sigh before he was pulled into an alley and then gently pushed up against a wall. Draco looked into his eyes and smiled softly "Harry, I paid for it because I wanted to treat you, you deserve this. No, don't shake your head. You have done so much for the Wizarding world and what has it given back? Nothing, that's what, and you just stand there and smile like it doesn't matter, but it does. You deserve to be spoilt just as much as anyone else and if I'm the only one who's willing to see that, then so be it." Draco grinned and pressed a quick kiss to the tip of Harry's nose "I'll spoil you to my heart's content and all I ask in return is that you try and enjoy it."

Harry was quiet for a moment; his teeth nibbling on his bottom lip, then he nodded hesitantly and Draco smiled gently, kissed him on the lips and then dragged him back out onto the busy street.

They made their way to the three broomsticks, after a quick debate or where to go for lunch, and Harry was painfully aware of the stares and whispers. He tried to ignore them and when Draco grasped his hand it made it a little easier. Blaise was in the pub, standing by the bar with a half empty Butterbeer. He waved them over when he saw them. "You here for lunch?" he asked with a smile and Draco nodded. "Let's get a table." Blaise motioned to an empty one in the back of the pub and they wove through the throng of witches and wizards to claim the table before somebody else did.

Once they were seated a young Witch came over to them and handed out three menus. Draco placed his menu on the table without looking at it. "I'll have a steak, well-done, with a Butterbeer." The Witch nodded and a quill floating by her head jotted the order down on a notepad. "Tuna salad and another of these." Blaise waved his empty goblet and the waitress smiled at him then she turned to Harry with a dreamy look in her eyes. "What can I get you, sweetie?" she asked and Harry saw Draco's shoulders tense up. "Err, I'll have a steak and a Butterbeer as well, please, but could you make the steak rare." The Witch winked at him before leaving and he shuffled nervously in his seat.

"Well aren't you the popular one?" Blaise smirked and Harry blushed "leave off him, Zabini." Draco growled and then placed his hand on top of Harry's. Harry immediately turned his hand over and grasped the blonde's hand like a lifeline. He didn't like being in crowded places. There always seemed to be some sort of anonymous attack in over populated places.

"Were you waiting for someone before we got here, Blaise?" Draco asked nonchalantly, studying his immaculate nails. Blaise shrugged as he picked at a chip in the wood distractedly "just Pansy" he said simply and then their food arrived and they continued polite conversation as they ate.

Pansy turned up just as they were finishing. "You're late" Blaise stated as she sat beside him. Her hair was windblown and her cheeks pink from the cold. "Damn McGonagall gave me detention for hexing some second years." She huffed as she ran her fingers through her hair. Blaise chuckled before wiping his mouth with his napkin, "well, maybe you should stop bullying them. I'm sure a lot more people would like you if you were a bit nicer." The ear-splitting grin on his face confirmed Harry's guess that he was joking and Pansy huffed but otherwise ignored Blaise's japes. "Draco. Potter." She practically spat out Harry's name, he nodded and looked down into his goblet.

Pansy waved a waitress over and ordered a plain salad and a Butterbeer with caramel and then Draco added a chocolate sundae with two spoons to the order. He smiled at Harry warmly causing a blush to heat his cheeks.

Their hands were still clasped and Draco's thumb had begun to rub small circles on the back of Harry's hand. It was creating a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach and he couldn't help the ecstatic smile that appeared on his face. Draco noticed the smile though and chuckled before lifting their hands to his mouth and kissing Harry's knuckles, one by one. He glanced at Harry with hungry eyes and the heat pooled in his groin. Harry shifted nervously and Draco chuckled again, "is there anywhere else you want to go before we have to head back to Hogwarts?" he asked and Harry had to struggle to force his brain to start working again. "Err, um, can we go to Honeydukes?" Draco kissed the back of his hand quickly "of course we can. I need to stock up on more sugar quills anyway." And then pansy's salad and the ice cream arrived and Draco handed Harry a spoon before taking his own and digging it into the cold dessert.

Harry let out a quiet moan when the chocolaty goodness touched his tongue. Between the two the ice cream didn't last long and soon they had paid for their meal and were heading to Honeydukes. They had said goodbye to Blaise and Pansy outside of the three broomsticks and had told them they would meet them at Hogwarts. They strolled unhurriedly to Honeydukes, chatting leisurely about meaningless things.

Draco strode straight to the shelf of sugar quills when they walked into Honeydukes and Harry wandered around picking up sweets here and there. In the end he bought three chocolate frogs, a small handful of liquorice wands, a sugar quill, a box of chocolate fudge, and for some reason a canary cream.

They got back to Hogwarts just as the sun was setting. They skipped dinner and instead went straight up to their room. Harry took his shopping bags out of his pockets and unshrunk them and then began hanging them in his wardrobe. Draco had bought him new boxers just as he'd promised. They were made of high quality silk and had a small silver dragon on the front; he kept them out along with suitable sleeping clothes. "Do you want to take a shower first, Dragon?" Harry called over his shoulder as he stashed his sweets in the drawer of his desk. His mate's arms snaked around his waist "why don't we take one together?" the blonde whispered huskily in Harry's ear and a shiver ran teasingly down his spine.

Harry smiled but shook his head "ah well, maybe next time" Draco sighed and then grabbed a change of clothes before disappearing into the bathroom.

TBC.

**A/N: sorry about the shortness of this chapter, it's just a filler really.**

**Thank you everyone who pointed out my mistakes. I have now(hopefully) corrected them. I'm still working on the next chapter and still stuck on deciding Ron's punishment...**

**Thank you everyone for the reviews and favourites they really got me going to start the next chapter. I want to get this story finished before I start posting up more **** (yes I have many more stories that are almost finished) please don't get bored with me? :'( **

**Also I'm having a rather difficult time deciding on what Ron's punishment should be. Any ideas? XD**


End file.
